title: Psychological coping in the immediate post-abortion period.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Women undergoing abortion do psychologically well long-term. Little data, however, describe how women fare in the immediate 1-3 day post-abortion period, when interventions may be most impactful for those who need them.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cohort study of patients undergoing first and second trimester surgical abortion and scored self-reported responses regarding psychological well-being before and after abortion, plus anticipated post-procedural psychological coping.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-two of 148 patients had complete questionnaires. Average predicted psychological scores were 9.7% better than pre-procedural psychological states. Actual psychological coping scores improved by 38% over women's predictions. Women who scored poorly on pre-procedural psychological assessments were more likely to have post-procedural psychosocial concerns (p=0.0376, r=0.2761).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While most women approach their abortion with optimism, they actually fare even better psychologically than they predict they will during the 1-3 days following procedures. Poor scores on pre-procedural psychological assessments can identify women in need of additional support in the immediate post-abortion period.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Emergency Medicine, Highland General Hospital , Alameda Health System, Oakland, California.
authors.forename: Kelly E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Quinley
authors.forename: Sarah J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Ratcliffe
authors.forename: Courtney A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Schreiber
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010414:Pennsylvania; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult