Date of Award

1989

Publication Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Psychology

Keywords

Psychology, Physiological.

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

Investigations of women's reactions following spontaneous abortion are sparse in the professional literature. The purposes of the present study were: (1) to examine differences in self-esteem, marital relations, and coping resources between women who experienced a miscarriage and those who had given birth to full-term infants; (2) to determine if the bereavement response is significantly different for women who miscarried and who have no children than those who miscarried after reproductive success; (3) to investigate differences between women who recently gave birth and who had never had a pregnancy loss or who had a history of prior loss; and (4) to identify predictors of bereavement symptoms and self-esteem among spontaneous aborters. The sample consisted of 215 female respondents who were solicited for participation through community support groups. All participants had experienced either a pregnancy loss or a live birth within the preceding 3-12 months. There were four groups: miscarried/no children (n = 40); miscarried/previously born children (n = 50); live birth/no previous pregnancy loss (n = 71); live birth/prior pregnancy loss (n = 54). Respondents who experienced a pregnancy loss in the previous 3-12 months obtained higher mean scale elevations on measures of bereavement and lower mean scale elevations on measures of self-esteem, coping resources, and marital satisfaction, than did live birth controls. Comparing the two loss groups were compared, those who had miscarried and who had no living children did not differ from those who miscarried after reproductive success. Similarly, comparisons of the two live birth groups failed to yield significant differences.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1989 .B56. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-08, Section: B, page: 3747. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1989.

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