An Empirical Study of the Psychological Antecedents and Consequences of Induced Abortion

On the basis of empirical studies previously reported in the research literature, this article develops a theoretical model of the psychological antecedents of abortion and a family of related theoretical models of the long‐term psychological consequences of abortion. Then, using data collected during the mid‐1970s as part of a longitudinal study of 967 women living in the San Francisco Bay Area, these models are tested with multiple regression analysis. The results provide considerable support for the model of psychological antecedents and for several of the models of psychological consequences. The specific findings are discussed and some of their policy implications are described.