Research has examined the proximate effects of unintended birth on infants and young children, but we know relatively little about the longer-term effects. Given that unintended birth is associated with several childhood risk factors, it might set the stage for poor mental health in adulthood. Drawing on rich intergenerational survey data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 (N = 3,742), this study used a variety of statistical techniques to examine whether maternal pregnancy intentions are associated with children’s depressive symptoms during early adulthood. Results from ordinary least squares regression suggest that children resulting from unintended pregnancies experienced more depressive symptoms in their 20s than children resulting from intended pregnancies, controlling for a host of characteristics. Results from propensity-weighted and sibling fixed-effects models suggest that there is little to no causal relationship, however. Much of the initial association between maternal fertility intentions and children’s depressive symptoms is attributed to the mother’s sociodemographic characteristics.
AvisonWilliam R.2010. “Incorporating Children’s Lives into a Life Course Perspective on Stress and Mental Health.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior51(4):361–75.
2.
AxinnWilliam G.BarberJennifer S.ThorntonArland. 1998. “The Long-term Impact of Parents’ Childbearing Decisions on Children’s Self-esteem.” Demography35(4):435–43.
3.
BachrachChristine A.NewcomerSusan. 1999. “Intended Pregnancies and Unintended Pregnancies: Distinct Categories or Opposite Ends of a Continuum?” Family Planning Perspectives31(5):251–52.
4.
BarberJennifer S.AxinnWilliam G.ThorntonArland. 1999. “Unwanted Childbearing, Health, and Mother–Child Relationships.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior40(3):231–57.
5.
BarberJennifer S.EastPatricia L.2009. “Home and Parenting Resources Available to Siblings Depending on Their Birth Intention Status.” Child Development80(3):921–39.
6.
BarberJennifer S.EastPatricia L.2011. “Children’s Experiences after the Unintended Birth of a Sibling.” Demography48(1):101–25.
7.
BaydarNazli. 1995. “Consequences for Children of Their Birth Planning Status.” Family Planning Perspectives27(6):228–45.
8.
Bronte-TinkewJacintaScottM. E.HorowitzA.LiljaE.2009. “Pregnancy Intentions During the Transition to Parenthood and Links to Coparenting for First-time Fathers of Infants.” Parenting: Science & Practice9(1/2):1–35.
9.
BrownSarahEisenbergLeon. 1995. The Best Intentions: Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-being of Children and Families. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
10.
BrownSusan L.2004. “Family Structure and Child Well-being: The Significance of Parental Cohabitation.” Journal of Marriage and Family66(2):351–67.
11.
CrisseySarah. 2005. “Effect of Pregnancy Intention on Child Well-being and Development: Combining Retrospective Reports of Attitude and Contraceptive Use.” Population Research & Policy Review24(6):593–615.
12.
DavidHenry P.DytrychZdenekMatejcekZdenek. 2003. “Born Unwanted: Observations from the Prague Study.” American Psychologist58(3):224–29.
13.
DehejiaRajeev H.WahbaSadek. 1999. “Causal Effects in Nonexperimental Studies: Reevaluating the Evaluation of Training Programs.” Journal of the American Statistical Association94(448):1053–62.
14.
DowneyGeraldineCoyneJames C.1990. “Children of Depressed Parents: An Integrative Review.” Psychological Bulletin108(1):50–76.
15.
EdinKathrynEnglandPaulaShaferEmily FitzgibbonsReedJoanna M.2007. “Forming Fragile Families: Was the Baby Planned, Unplanned, or in Between?” Pp. 25–54 in Unmarried Couples with Children, edited by EnglandP.EdinK.New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
16.
FinerLawrence B.ZolnaMia R.2016. “Declines in Unintended Pregnancy in the United States, 2008–2011.” New England Journal of Medicine374(9):843–52.
17.
GeorgeLinda K.1999. “Life Course Perspectives on Mental Health.” Pp. 565–83 in Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health, edited by AneshenselC. S.PhelanJ. C.New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
18.
GilmanStephen E.KawachiIchiroFitzmauriceGarrett M.BukaStephen L.2003. “Family Disruption in Childhood and Risk of Adult Depression.” American Journal of Psychiatry160(5):939–46.
19.
GipsonJessica D.KoenigMichael A.HindinMichelle J.2008. “The Effects of Unintended Pregnancy on Infant, Child, and Parental Health: A Review of the Literature.” Studies in Family Planning39(1):18–38.
20.
GuzzoKaren BenjaminHayfordSarah R.2012. “Unintended Fertility and the Stability of Coresidential Relationships.” Social Science Research41(5):1138–51.
21.
HazelN. A.HammenC.BrennanP. A.NajmanJ.2008. “Early Childhood Adversity and Adolescent Depression: The Mediating Role of Continued Stress.” Psychological Medicine38(04):581–89.
22.
HerdPamelaHigginsJennySicinskiKamilMerkurievaIrina. 2016. “The Implications of Unintended Pregnancies for Mental Health in Later Life.” American Journal of Public Health106(3):421–29.
23.
JoyceTheodore J.KaestnerRobertKorenmanSanders. 2000. “The Effect of Pregnancy Intention on Child Development.” Demography37(1):83–94.
24.
JoyceTheodore J.KaestnerRobertKorenmanSanders. 2002. “On the Validity of Retrospective Assessments of Pregnancy Intention.” Demography39(1):199–213.
25.
KesslerRonald C.McGonagleKatherine A.ZhaoShanyangNelsonChristopher B.HughesMichaelEshlemanSuzannWittchenHans-UlrichKendlerKenneth S.1994. “Lifetime and 12-month Prevalence of DSM-III-R Psychiatric Disorders in the United States: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey.” Archives of General Psychiatry51(1):8–19.
26.
KostKathrynLandryDavid J.DarrochJacqueline E.1998. “The Effects of Pregnancy Planning Status on Birth Outcomes and Infant Care.” Family Planning Perspectives30(5):223–30.
27.
KostKathrynLindbergLaura. 2015. “Pregnancy Intentions, Maternal Behaviors, and Infant Health: Investigating Relationships with New Measures and Propensity Score Analysis.” Demography52(1):83–111.
28.
KubickaL.MatejcekZ.DavidH. P.DytrychZ.MillerW. B.RothZ.1995. “Children from Unwanted Pregnancies in Prague, Czech Republic Revisited at Age Thirty.” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica91(6):361–69.
29.
KubickaL.RothZ.DytrychZ.MatejcekZ.DavidH. P.2002. “The Mental Health of Adults Born of Unwanted Pregnancies, Their Siblings, and Matched Controls: A 35-year Follow-up Study from Prague, Czech Republic.” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease190(10):653–62.
30.
MarsiglioWilliamMottFrank L.1988. “Does Wanting to Become Pregnant with a First Child Affect Subsequent Maternal Behaviors and Infant Birth Weight?” Journal of Marriage and Family50(4):1023–36.
31.
McLanahanSaraPercheskiChristine. 2008. “Family Structure and the Reproduction of Inequalities.” Annual Review of Sociology34:257–76.
32.
McLanahanSaraSandefurGary D.1994. Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
33.
McLeodJane D.KaiserKaren. 2004. “Childhood Emotional and Behavioral Problems and Educational Attainment.” American Sociological Review69(5):636–58.
34.
MiechRichard AllenShanahanMichael J.2000. “Socioeconomic Status and Depression over the Life Course.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior41(2):162–76.
35.
MorganStephen L.ToddJennifer J.2008. “A Diagnostic Routine for the Detection of Consequential Heterogeneity of Causal Effects.” Sociological Methodology38(1):231–81.
36.
MorganStephen L.WinshipChristopher. 2007. Counterfactuals and Causal Inference: Methods and Principles for Social Research. New York: Cambridge University Press.
37.
MosherWilliam D.JonesJoAbmaJoyce C.2012. Intended and Unintended Births in the United States: 1982–2010. National Health Statistics Report No. 55. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
38.
MusickKelly A.EnglandPaulaEdgingtonSarahKangasNicole. 2009. “Education Differences in Intended and Unintended Fertility.” Social Forces88(2):543–72.
39.
PulleyLeaVonneKlermanLorraine V.TangHaoBakerBeth A.2002. “The Extent of Pregnancy Mistiming and Its Association with Maternal Characteristics and Behaviors and Pregnancy Outcomes.” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health34(4):206–11.
40.
RadloffL. S.1977. “The CES-D Scale: A Self-report Depression Scale for Research in the General Population.” Applied Psychological Measurement1(3):385–401.
41.
ReinherzHelen Z.ParadisAngela D.GiaconiaRose M.StashwickCecilia K.FitzmauriceGarrett. 2003. “Childhood and Adolescent Predictors of Major Depression in the Transition to Adulthood.” American Journal of Psychiatry160(12):2141–47.
42.
RepettiRena L.TaylorShelley E.SeemanTeresa E.2002. “Risky Families: Family Social Environments and the Mental and Physical Health of Offspring.” Psychological Bulletin128(2):330–66.
43.
RobinsJ. M.RotnitzkyA.2001. “Comment on the Bickel and Kwon Article, ‘Inference for Semiparametric Models: Some Questions and an Answer.’” Statistica Sinica11(4):920–36.
44.
RosenbaumPaul R.RubinDonald B.1983. “The Central Role of the Propensity Score in Observational Studies for Causal Effects.” Biometrika70(1):41–55.
45.
RosenbaumPaul R.RubinDonald B.1984. “Reducing Bias in Observational Studies Using Subclassification on the Propensity Score.” Journal of the American Statistical Association79(387):516–24.
46.
RosenzweigMark R.WolpinKenneth I.1993. “Maternal Expectations and Ex Post Rationalizations: The Usefulness of Survey Information on the Wantedness of Children.” Journal of Human Resources28(2):205–29.
47.
RossCatherine E.MirowskyJohn. 1999. “Parental Divorce, Life Course Disruption, and Adult Depression.” Journal of Marriage and Family61(4):1034–45.
48.
RotterJ. B.1966. “Generalized Expectancies for Internal versus External Control of Reinforcement.” Psychological Monographs80(1):1–28.
49.
RoystonPatrick. 2004. “Multiple Imputation of Missing Values.” Stata Journal4(3):227–41.
50.
RubinDonald B.1973. “Matching to Remove Bias in Observational Studies.” Biometrics29(1):159–83.
51.
RubinDonald B.1987. Multiple Imputation for Nonresponse in Surveys. New York: Wiley.
52.
SableMarjorie R.1999. “Pregnancy Intentions May Not Be a Useful Measure for Research on Maternal and Child Health Outcomes.” Family Planning Perspectives31(5):249–50.
53.
SuJessica Houston. 2012. “Pregnancy Intentions and Parents’ Psychological Well-being.” Journal of Marriage and Family74(5):1182–96.
54.
SullivanPatrick F.NealeMichael C.KendlerKenneth S.2000. “Genetic Epidemiology of Major Depression: Review and Meta-analysis.” American Journal of Psychiatry157(10):1552–62.
55.
WickramaK. A. S.CongerRand D.LorenzFrederick O.JungTony. 2008. “Family Antecedents and Consequences of Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: A Life Course Investigation.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior49(4):468–83.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
