Perception of control, coping and psychological stress of infertile women undergoing IVF

Abstract

The study aimed to examine: (i) the association between perception of infertility controllability and coping strategies; and (ii) the association between perception of infertility controllability and coping strategies to psychological distress, applying multivariate statistical techniques to control for the effects of demographic variables. This cross-sectional study included 137 women with fertility problems undergoing IVF in a public hospital. All participants completed questionnaires that measured fertility-related stress, state anxiety, depressive symptomatology, perception of control and coping strategies. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated between all study variables, followed by hierarchical multiple linear regression. Low perception of personal and treatment controllability was associated with frequent use of avoidance coping and high perception of treatment controllability was positively associated with problem-focused coping. Multivariate analysis showed that, when controlling for demographic factors, low perception of personal control and avoidance coping were positively associated with fertility-related stress and state anxiety, and problem-appraisal coping was negatively and significantly associated with fertility-related stress and depressive symptomatology scores. The findings of this study merit the understanding of the role of control perception and coping in psychological stress of infertile women to identify beforehand those women who might be at risk of experiencing high stress and in need of support.

The Partnership and Coping Enhancement Programme for couples undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment: the development of a complex intervention in China

“…The findings of the literature reviews have revealed that positive coping strategies are related to the psychological well-being of women undergoing IVF treatment [43,44]. It has also been proposed that positive dyadic coping could reduce the stress for each partner and improve the functioning of the relationship of couples coping with stress [30,45].…”

Relationship between the mode of conception and depressive symptoms during the first 6 months post‐partum in Japan

“…There have been reports of adverse effects on the psychological health of women who receive ART infertility treatment, including a high state of anxiety and a tendency to develop depression . However, a meta‐analysis of 14 prospective studies of infertile women concluded that neither anxiety nor depression affects the ART fertility rate .…”

Psychosocial and demographic correlates of the discontinuation ofin vitrofertilization

“…On the other hand, support could be offered to those who feel they cannot cope with the burden of treatment, but still are willing to become pregnant. These couples could benefi t from some additional support, for example an extra consultation with their physician or referral to a counsellor Gourounti et al, 2012). The problem in differentiating between these types of discontinuation has already been discussed (Van den Broeck et al, 2010).…”