Maternal and Paternal Representations in Assisted Reproductive Technology and Spontaneous Conceiving Parents: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Aim of this study was to investigate whether parental mental representations during pregnancy and after delivery differed between parents who conceived after Assisted Reproductive Treatments (ART) and spontaneous conceiving (SC) parents. Effects of specific ART variables (previous ART attempts, treatment type and cause of infertility) were also taken into account. Seventeen ART couples and 25 SC couples were recruited at Santa Maria Nuova Hospital (Reggio Emilia, Italy). At both 32 weeks of gestation (T1) and 3 months postpartum (T2) participants completed the Semantic Differential of the IRMAG, a self-report tool which measures specific domains of mental representations pertaining either individual (Child, Self-as-woman/man, and Partner) or parental (Self-as-parent, Own parent) characteristics. Results showed that ART parents had significantly more positive representations of the child compared to SC parents, while the scores at Partner dimension improved from T1 to T2 for SC parents only. With regards to ART history, scores at the Self-as-woman/man dimension were significantly less positive for ICSI than IVF parents and improved substantially from T1 to T2 only in case of mothers with previous ART attempts and of fathers at the first ART cycle. The representation of own parents increased from T1 to T2 in case of infertility diagnosis due to male factors, while a decrease emerged when infertility was due to female factors. Findings suggest the need to investigate parental mental representations after ART, in order to improve the understanding on the transition to parenthood of infertile couples and to target more specific intervention for parenting support.

The (decision) tree of fertility: an innovative decision-making algorithm in assisted reproduction technique

“…Apart from tangible clinic and economic advantages, possible repercussions on the psychological health of the infertile couple have to be taken into account. Indeed, it is well established in the scientific literature and clearly evident in clinical practice that ART procedures are accompanied by a significant emotional burden experienced by both partners [34]. Since psychological consequences could be even more burdensome in case of ART treatment failures and with the consequent need to schedule new cycles [34], a precocious suspension of the ART cycle followed by a new treatment schedule could improve the couples' psychological health.…”

How Does It Feel to Be Online? Psychotherapists’ Self-Perceptions in Telepsychotherapy Sessions During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

“…The SD method operationalizes qualitative information, measuring respondents' affective, and attitudinal states based on the attributional meaning given to items (Osgood et al, 1957). The methodology is well established as a reliable and effective way to measure attitudes, preferences, and perceptions resulting from real-life experience (e.g., Hiessl and Skrandies, 2013;Lui et al, 2020;Paterlini et al, 2021;Sobolev et al, 2021). The research conducted by Osgood et al (1957), on different objects of investigation and among culturally different samples, showed that the SD method can highlight "latent cognitive structures" commonly referring to three different dimensions, mutually independent.…”

Типологические Варианты Развития Детей, Рожденных С Помощью Вспомогательных Репродуктивных Технологий, И Характеристики Их Семейной Среды

“…In families with ART, adverse outcomes of the child were mostly related to the behavioural aspect of parenthood, but not with its emotional aspect and marital wellbeing. Previously, mothers using ART were showed to have greater involvement in parenting, which may also explain the differences in maternal behaviour associated with variants of child development (Fata, Tokat & Uğur, 2021;Paterlini et al, 2021). The absence of differences in the mental well-being and marital relations of parents can be explained by the high value of a children in such families, which is independent of their behaviour and development (Yakupova, 2015).…”