Possible Gender Differences in the Level of Perceived Social Support in Couples Who Are Experiencing Issues With Infertility

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine whether there are gender differences in the level of perceived social support in couples experiencing issues with fertility. MethodsA total of 938 participants aged 18-47 years, with self-reported issues of infertility, were evaluated using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) which comprises three subscales which correspond with distinct sources of social support: significant other (SO), family, and friends. Differences between sexes for total score and for all subscale scores were subsequently analyzed using SPSS Statistics (IBM Corp, Armonk, USA).