title: Efficacy of a group crisis-counseling program for men who accompany women seeking abortions.
abstract: This study investigated the effect of a group crisis-counseling session on the anxiety level and attitudes of males who accompanied women seeking legal abortions. Twenty-three companion males participated in one 2-hour counseling session. Each session was comprised of three to seven men. Twenty-three other men, who served as control subjects, remained in the waiting room of the abortion clinic and did not participate in a counseling session. All subjects completed the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and four other attitudinal measures based on the semantic differential. These were filled out by all subjects when they first arrived at the clinic and again approximately 2 hours later. Results from both the STAI and the other attitudinal measures indicated that State anxiety (A-State) decreased and attitudes towards abortion concepts generally were more positive for men in the group which received crisis counseling.
mesh_terms: D000023:Abortion Applicants; D000029:Abortion, Legal; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000367:Age Factors; D001007:Anxiety / Q000628:therapy; D001290:Attitude; D003376:Counseling; D003419:Crisis Intervention; D004644:Emotions; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D013315:Stress, Psychological