Psychological aspects of male infertility

Abstract

The aim of this research was to study the effect of suspected infertility on psychological functioning, comparing men who suspect that they are infertile (N = 107) with men who have no such suspicion (N = 30). Infertile men had lower self-esteem, higher anxiety and showed more somatic symptoms than fertile men. The effects of moderating variables on the psychological functioning of the subfertile men were analysed. The findings were that causality of infertility, feelings of hopelessness and global attribution were related to sexual inadequacy. Depression was uniquely related to stress of infertility and global attribution. Global attribution, though predictive of psychological consequences, was not affected by the objective variables of infertility.

Psychological characteristics of and counseling for carriers of structural chromosome abnormalities

“…Male partners among infertile couples experience elevated levels of psychological distress (Dyer et al, 2009). Infertile men had lower self-esteem, higher anxiety, and showed more somatic symptoms than fertile men (Kedem et al, 1990). Gana and Jakubowska (2014) reported that their findings confirmed the predictive effects of infertility-related stress on both emotional and marital distress.…”

The Psychological Impact of Infertility in the Male Able Bodied and Spinal Cord Injured Population

“…Physical pain and complaints are more prominent in this group, which is associated with lower productivity. Loss of hope, depression, and decrease in sexual desires are other manifestations in this population [10].…”

“…Kedem et al [10] showed that self-respect and self-esteem is much lower in infertile male compared to normal population and they also suffer of a higher anxiety level. Physical pain and complaints are more prominent in this group, which is associated with lower productivity.…”

Stress e ansiedade em casais submetidos à reprodução assistida.

“…Com relação aos estudos que medem a auto-estima, (Callan, 1987;Kedem et al, 1990;Hynes et al, 1992), encontraram que o escore dos indivíduos inférteis era menor; por outro lado, (Brand, Ross e Van Der Merwe, 1982;Paulson et al, 1988;Edelmann, Connoly e Bartlett, 1994), encontraram níveis normais nesses indivíduos. Greil, Leiko e Porter, 1988;Greil, 1991a;Becker e Nachtigall, 1991).…”

“…Estes dados estão de acordo com diversos autores, que mostraram que a satisfação sexual e conjugal é tão alta nos indivíduos inférteis (Adler e Boxley, 1985;Link e Darling, 1986;Raval et al, 1987;Dennerstein e Morse, 1988;Downey et al, 1989;Berg e Wilson, 1991), ou mais alta (Callan, 1987;Cook et al, 1989;Downey e Mckinney, 1992), do que os indivíduos férteis, porém a maioria dos estudos que avaliaram a satisfação sexual e conceitos relacionados, encontraram poucas diferenças entre os indivíduos inférteis e outros (Freeman, Garcia e Rickels, 1983;Raval et al, 1987;Daniluk, 1988;Kedem et al, 1990;Downey e Mckinney, 1992 A reprodução assistida aparece como uma alternativa repleta de grandes chances, sendo que nesse momento, não há "espaço" para lidar também com mais uma crise emocional e os esforços se concentram nas questões médicas.…”