Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 July 2008
The authors compared 130 married abortion applicants with 100 married pregnant women who were attending the antenatal clinic. The abortion applicants were more likely to have had unhappy childhoods, broken homes, sexual pathology and more children. Their neuroticism scores on the Maudsley Personality Inventory were significantly higher. They tended to use either no contraception or unreliable methods. They were older and tended to report more socioeconomic problems. The characteristics of abortion applicants in this study seem to be similar to those reported from other countries.