Group psychotherapy following repeat and delayed decision abortions: Demographic and personality factors associated with self-selection and responsiveness

The present study explored predictors of self-selection and responsiveness to short term group psychotherapy following an abortion in a three phase series of investigations. In the first phase, discriminant function analyses were carried out separately for demographic, life circumstance, and personality factors to determine whether there were any variables that would differentiate women who elected to participate in short term group psychotherapy from those who refused. Results of these analyses revealed that group refusal was associated with higher numbers of previous abortions, higher levels of reported depressive affect, and representations of paternal figures as less punitive. In the second phase, one-way repeated ANOVA revealed that women who participated in the group had significantly higher scores on Loevingers Washington University Sentence Completion Test, a measure of ego development, at the end of the group than they had at the beginning of the group. Significant changes were also found with respect to representations of both maternal and paternal figures. The third phase of the study, which explored whether level of ego development would differentially predict response to intervention failed to reveal any significant effects.