Eine 25-jährige nationale Studie verbindet zunehmende Abtreibungsbeschränkungen mit messbarem Anstieg depressiver Symptome

> Restrictive abortion policies are associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms among women, according to a new 25-year study led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The equivalent of approximately four additional restrictive laws was linked to a 7 percent increase in depressive symptoms among women. The study findings contribute to the small but growing body of literature documenting potential adverse mental health consequences of restrictive abortion legislation

>The study included 19,881 female respondents from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel, a national prospective population-based study that follows young people from adolescence into adulthood. Participants were first surveyed during their senior year of high school and followed into adulthood, with assessments every two years until age 30 and every five years beginning at age 35.
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>Depressive symptoms were measured using a four-item index. State-level abortion policy climate was quantified through an annual index capturing 18 standard restrictive policies across states and years. Analyses adjusted for race/ethnicity, age, urbanicity, and state-level characteristics, including unemployment, income inequality, political and legislative composition, demographic composition, and the gender wage gap.

>Associations were strongest among women reporting low religious observance and were not significant among those with high religious interest. These tests help reassure us that the associations we are seeing—between restrictive abortion legislation and adverse mental health—are unlikely to be spurious or due to unmeasured confounding factors,” she continues.

[Restrictive abortion policy climate is associated with increased depression symptoms among women in the United States: Findings from a 25-year longitudinal study – ScienceDirect](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666560326000150)