Association Between Decision-Making Styles, Personality Traits, and Socio-Demographic Factors in Women Choosing Voluntary Pregnancy Termination: A Cross-Sectional Study

Personality traits, decision-making styles, and socio-demographic information help understand the characteristics of women requesting voluntary termination of pregnancy (VTP) and monitor the timing and quality of this service However, our current data do not allow for an in-depth exploration of additional, less evident factors that might influence the decision. The aim was to characterise a sample of women requesting VTP in terms of socio-demographic, personality, and decision-making style variables, and to examine the associations among these factors. We conducted a cross-sectional study administering the General Decision-Making Style (GDMS) test, the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ) and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5) to women requesting VTP certification. BFQ scores were generally high, especially for "Conscientiousness" and "Openness". "Agreeableness" and "Openness" scores were lower in women with low vs. high education (diff = -8.2 [-13.9, -2.4] and diff = -7.5 [-15.0, -0.1]); "Extraversion" was higher in employed women. PID-5 scores for "Detachment" and "Psychoticism" were higher in medium vs. high education (diff = 1.6 [0.05, 3.2] and diff = 1.9 [0.1, 3.8]), but not at pathological level; "Negative affect" was lower in women with children (diff = -1.6 [-3.1, -0.2]). GDMS scores were not associated with socio-demographic factors. "Avoidant" and "Spontaneous" styles were negatively associated with "Conscientiousness" and "Emotional Stability"; "Rational" style was positively associated with "Conscientiousness" and "Disinhibition". High BFQ and low PID-5 scores suggest no personality dysfunction in women undergoing VTP. No predominant decision-making style emerged, but associations between personality traits, decision-making, and socio-demographic factors such as educational level, employment and parity, were observed.