title: Adolescent Determinants of Abortion Attitudes: Evidence from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.
abstract: The stability of abortion opinions suggests that pre-adult factors influence these attitudes more than contemporaneous political events. Surprisingly, however, we know little about the origins of abortion opinions, no doubt because the majority of research focuses on cross-sectional analyses of patterns across cohorts. We use a developmental model that links familial and contextual factorsduring adolescenceto abortion attitudes years later when respondents are between 21 and 38 years old. Findings show that religious adherence and maternal gender role values are significant predictors of adult abortion opinions, even after controlling for contemporaneous religious adherence and the respondents' own views on gender roles. Adolescent religious adherence matters more than religious denomination for adult abortion attitudes. The results have important implications for future trends in abortion attitudes in light of declining religiosity among Americans.
authors.affiliation: Julianna Pacheco is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA. Rebecca Kreitzer is an assistant professor of public policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. The authors are especially grateful to Tracy Osborn, Caroline Tolbert, Michael Berkman, Eric Plutzer, the editors, and anonymous reviewers for useful comments and suggestions. The IT staff at the University of Iowa and Jennifer Cassidy-Gilbert helped with access to restricted NLS data.
authors.forename: Julianna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pacheco
authors.affiliation: Julianna Pacheco is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA. Rebecca Kreitzer is an assistant professor of public policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. The authors are especially grateful to Tracy Osborn, Caroline Tolbert, Michael Berkman, Eric Plutzer, the editors, and anonymous reviewers for useful comments and suggestions. The IT staff at the University of Iowa and Jennifer Cassidy-Gilbert helped with access to restricted NLS data.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kreitzer