Testing a New Group Intervention for Couples Seeking Fertility Treatment: Acceptability and Proof of Concept

Perceived financial burden is indirectly linked to sexual well-being via quality of life among couples seeking medically assisted reproduction

“…Higher scores reflect better quality of life during MAR. The FertiQol has shown strong psychometric properties among couples seeking MAR (Arpin et al, 2019) and displayed good internal consistency in the current study (α partner 1 = 0.91, α partner 2 = 0.92).…”

“…Items were summed to create a total score and higher scores reflect greater sexual satisfaction. The GMSEX has shown strong psychometric properties among couples seeking MAR ( Arpin et al, 2019 ) and has been validated for use among men and women ( Mark et al, 2014 ). The scale displayed good internal consistency in the current study (α partner 1 = 0.94, α partner 2 = 0.93).…”

“We're in this together”: Attachment insecurities, dyadic coping strategies, and relationship satisfaction in couples involved in medically assisted reproduction

“…That is, in line with the VSA model, the stress of MAR is likely to interfere with the couples' established dynamic, even in happy couples or in individuals reporting relatively secure attachment styles. Research using infertility‐specific measures of relationship functioning provides support for these pathways, showing that couples often experience negative consequences of infertility on their relationship, even if they report high scores on global measures of relationship satisfaction (Arpin et al, 2019; Donarelli et al, 2016; B. D. Peterson et al, 2003; Sauvé et al, 2020). This therefore justifies the need to identify risk and protective factors that may modulate the effect of stress in these couples and that could be targeted through psychosocial interventions.…”

“…This suggests that as a group, couples undergoing the process of MAR appear relatively resilient when it comes to their relationship well-being. Whereas some researchers found lower relationship satisfaction in couples dealing with infertility compared to control groups (Masoumi et al, 2016;Monga et al, 2004), others found relatively high scores of relationship satisfaction in couples dealing with infertility (Arpin et al, 2019;Galhardo et al, 2011Galhardo et al, , 2013Onat & Beji, 2012;Péloquin et al, 2018;Sauvé et al, 2020). While this may seem surprising, this is consistent with the fact that these couples are trying to have a child and are willing to invest substantial resources to achieve this goal (e.g., attend many appointments, undergo invasive medical procedures, and invest important financial resources).…”