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Psychological Aspects of Infertility - Results from an Actor-Partner Interdependence Analysis
Carla Luisa Thanscheidt1, Patrick Pätsch1, Sabine Rösner2
1Institut für Medizinische Psychologie, Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Geburtshilfe Und Frauenheilkunde
|July 5, 2023
Summary
Infertility causes shared stress; higher self-efficacy in couples lowers psychological risks like anxiety and depression. Partner support significantly impacts emotional well-being during fertility treatments.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Medicine
- Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Infertility is a significant shared stressor for couples undergoing medical treatment.
- Self-efficacy is known to support adaptive coping with illness.
- This study investigates the association between self-efficacy and psychological risks in infertile couples.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between self-efficacy and psychological risk factors (anxiety, depression, acceptance, helplessness) in individuals and their partners undergoing fertility treatment.
- To explore the actor and partner effects of self-efficacy on psychological well-being within infertile couples.
- To inform potential counseling strategies aimed at enhancing self-efficacy to mitigate psychosocial risks in fertility patients.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study involving 721 individuals (320 couples) from fertility centers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
- Utilized the SCREENIVF-R questionnaire to assess psychological risk factors.
- Employed the ISE scale for self-efficacy measurement and analyzed data using paired t-tests and the actor-partner interdependence model.
Main Results:
- Women reported higher psychological risk scores than men for depressiveness, anxiety, lack of acceptance, and helplessness.
- Self-efficacy demonstrated a protective effect on individual risk factors (actor effect).
- Men's self-efficacy negatively correlated with women's depressiveness and helplessness; women's self-efficacy positively correlated with men's acceptance and social support.
Conclusions:
- Infertility treatment outcomes and psychological well-being are influenced by couple dynamics, necessitating a couple-centered analytical approach.
- Targeted interventions to enhance self-efficacy may improve coping mechanisms and reduce psychological distress in infertile couples.
- Couples therapy should be considered the standard of care for psychotherapy in infertility treatment.
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