Consequences and Correlates of Pregnancy Scares among Young Women: Preliminary Results

Heather H. Gatny, University of Michigan
Yasamin Kusunoki, University of Michigan

We investigate the relationship between pregnancy scares and early pregnancy, and describe the characteristics of women who experience pregnancy scares. First, we use the experience of a pregnancy scare to predict the hazard of early pregnancy, finding a positive association. Next, we examine the characteristics associated with pregnancy scares. We find living with a partner, growing up with one biological parent or some other family structure, and lower parental income to be positively associated with pregnancy scares. We find similar associations for the number of pregnancy scares. In addition, we find associations between race and religious importance and the number of pregnancy scares. These results suggest that pregnancy scares are important to understanding early pregnancy and that it is possible to characterize the populations at greater risk of pregnancy scares and, thus, of early pregnancy.