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Abortion Reporting in the United States: An Assessment of Three National Fertility Surveys

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Lindberg

    (Guttmacher Institute)

  • Kathryn Kost

    (Guttmacher Institute)

  • Isaac Maddow-Zimet

    (Guttmacher Institute)

  • Sheila Desai

    (Guttmacher Institute)

  • Mia Zolna

    (Guttmacher Institute)

Abstract

Despite its frequency, abortion remains a highly sensitive, stigmatized, and difficult-to-measure behavior. We present estimates of abortion underreporting for three of the most commonly used national fertility surveys in the United States: the National Survey of Family Growth, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Numbers of abortions reported in each survey were compared with external abortion counts obtained from a census of all U.S. abortion providers, with adjustments for comparable respondent ages and periods of each data source. We examined the influence of survey design factors, including survey mode, sampling frame, and length of recall, on abortion underreporting. We used Monte Carlo simulations to estimate potential measurement biases in relationships between abortion and other variables. Underreporting of abortion in the United States compromises the ability to study abortion—and, consequently, almost any pregnancy-related experience—using national fertility surveys.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Lindberg & Kathryn Kost & Isaac Maddow-Zimet & Sheila Desai & Mia Zolna, 2020. "Abortion Reporting in the United States: An Assessment of Three National Fertility Surveys," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(3), pages 899-925, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:57:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s13524-020-00886-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-020-00886-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Schenker N. & Gentleman J. F., 2001. "On Judging the Significance of Differences by Examining the Overlap Between Confidence Intervals," The American Statistician, American Statistical Association, vol. 55, pages 182-186, August.
    2. Katherine I. Tierney, 2019. "Abortion Underreporting in Add Health: Findings and Implications," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(3), pages 417-428, June.
    3. Cowan, Sarah K., 2017. "Enacted abortion stigma in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 259-268.
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    5. Vidhura Tennekoon, 2017. "Counting unreported abortions: A binomial-thinned zero-inflated Poisson model," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(2), pages 41-72.
    6. Jagannathan, R., 2001. "Relying on surveys to understand abortion behavior: Some cautionary evidence," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(11), pages 1825-1831.
    7. D. Philipov & E. Andreev & T Kharkova & V. Shkolnikov, 2004. "Induced Abortion in Russia: Recent Trends and Underreporting in Surveys," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 20(2), pages 95-117, June.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Martha J. Bailey & Lea Bart & Vanessa Wanner Lang, 2022. "The Missing Baby Bust: The Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Contraceptive Use, Pregnancy, and Childbirth Among Low-Income Women," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(4), pages 1549-1569, August.
    3. Kristen Lagasse Burke & R. Kelly Raley, 2022. "Declines in Non-marital Births Among Black Women Between 2004 and 2014: Are Recent Trends the Result of Increases in Contraception?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(5), pages 2267-2288, October.
    4. Mónica L. Caudillo & Seungwan Kim & Jaein Lee & Jingwen Liu, 2024. "Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Dyadic Pregnancy Intentions Preceding Births in the United States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(2), pages 1-14, April.
    5. Polina Zvavitch & Michael S. Rendall & Constanza Hurtado-Acuna & Rachel M. Shattuck, 2021. "Contraceptive Consistency and Poverty After Birth," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(6), pages 1277-1311, December.
    6. Bethany G. Everett & Jessica N. Sanders & Jenny A. Higgins, 2023. "Abortion Policy Context in Adolescence and Men’s Future Educational Achievement," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(3), pages 1-20, June.
    7. VandeVusse, Alicia J. & Mueller, Jennifer & Kirstein, Marielle & Strong, Joe & Lindberg, Laura D., 2023. "“Technically an abortion”: Understanding perceptions and definitions of abortion in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    8. Isaac Maddow-Zimet & Laura D. Lindberg & Kate Castle, 2021. "State-Level Variation in Abortion Stigma and Women and Men’s Abortion Underreporting in the USA," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(6), pages 1149-1161, December.

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