Born unwanted, 35 years later: the Prague study.

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Mental Health Research
• Reproductive Health Studies

Background:

• A prevailing belief suggests unwanted births correlate with adverse psychosocial outcomes.
• The Prague Study was initiated to empirically investigate this long-held hypothesis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the long-term psychosocial development and mental health of individuals born from unwanted pregnancies.
• To compare outcomes of children born after abortion denial with those from accepted pregnancies.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal follow-up of 220 individuals born from unwanted pregnancies (abortion denied twice).
• Pair-matched comparison with 220 controls from accepted pregnancies, assessed across multiple waves from childhood to adulthood.
• Inclusion of siblings in later waves to control for confounding familial factors.

Main Results:

• Individuals from unwanted pregnancies exhibited consistently poorer psychosocial development over time, though differences narrowed around age 30.
• Higher rates of psychiatric hospitalization were observed in the unwanted pregnancy group compared to controls and their siblings.
• Only children born from unwanted pregnancies showed particularly pronounced negative outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Denial of abortion for unwanted pregnancies is associated with an increased risk of negative psychosocial development.
• Adverse mental health outcomes persist into adulthood for individuals born from unwanted pregnancies.
• The findings underscore the potential long-term psychological impact of unwanted births.