ArticlePloS one2017
Norms and stigma regarding pregnancy decisions during an unintended pregnancy: Development and predictors of scales among young women in the U.S. South.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Abortion stigma amongst the public in high-income countries: a mixed-method systematic review.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2025Pooled it
- Indicators for Reproductive Violence: A Systematized Review to Develop a Multilevel Measurement Framework.Studies in family planning · 2025Pooled it
- Observational
- Patient Perspectives, Unmet Needs and Dilemmas in Reproductive Decision-making for Genodermatoses: A Qualitative Interview Study.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2026Article
- The early advantage: How antenatal care shapes cognitive development in India: Evidence from Young Lives, India.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- "Imagine a pregnancy": perspectives of Latine emerging adults from an agricultural community in California.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2025Article
- Understanding the role of race in abortion stigma in the United States: a systematic scoping review.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2022Article
- Perceived abortion stigma and psychological well-being over five years after receiving or being denied an abortion.PloS one · 2020Article
- Article
- Should prenatal care providers offer pregnancy options counseling?BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2018Article
- Abortion after diagnosis of fetal anomaly: Psychometric properties of a German version of the individual level abortion stigma scale.PloS one · 2018Article
- "It's a walk of shame": Experiences of unintended pregnancy and abortion among sexual- and gender-minoritized females in urban India.Medicine access @ point of careArticle
- Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundNorms and stigma regarding pregnancy decisions (parenting, adoption, and abortion) are salient to maternal well-being, particularly for groups disproportionately affected by unintended pregnancy. However, there are few validated measures of individual-level perceptions of norms and stigma around pregnancy decisions. Additionally, little is known about variation in the content of norms regarding pregnancy decisions, and in stigma related to violations of these norms, across socio-demographic groups.
methodsTo create measures of perceived norms and stigma around pregnancy decisions, we developed and pre-tested 97 survey items using a mixed methods approach. The resulting survey was administered to 642 young adult women recruited from health department clinics and a public university campus in Birmingham, Alabama. Principal components factor analyses, reliability analyses, independent t-tests, and correlation analyses were conducted to establish the reliability and validity of scales. Additionally, multiple linear regression was used to identify demographic predictors of higher scale scores.
resultsFactor analyses revealed four subscales for each pregnancy decision: conditional acceptability, anticipated reactions, stereotypes/misperceptions, and attitudes. The total scales and their subscales demonstrated good internal reliability (alpha coefficients 0.72-0.94). The mean scores for each scale were significantly associated with each other, with related measures, and differed by sociodemographic characteristics. Specifically, in adjusted analyses, women in the university setting and White women expressed more negative attitudes and stigma around parenting. Minority women endorsed more negative norms and stigma around adoption. Finally, women from the health department, White women, and religious women expressed more negative norms and stigma around abortion.
conclusionFindings suggest that our multidimensional measures have good psychometric properties in our sample of young women in the U.S. South, and highlight the importance of conceptualizing and measuring norms and stigmas around all pregnancy decisions. These scales may be of use in research on pregnancy decision-making and evaluation of stigma-reduction interventions.
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