Infertility-related stress, social support, and coping of women experiencing infertility in Vietnam

Women with an infertility problem living in traditional and developing countries face extensive social pressure, infertility-related stress, and distress, which possibly affect their choices of coping strategies. The present study aims to investigate the impact of infertility-related stress and social support on coping of Vietnamese women who live with an infertility diagnosis.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 192 women diagnosed with infertility at two hospitals in the north and central regions of Vietnam. Participants completed a questionnaire consisting of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Copenhagen Multi-centre Psychosocial Infertility coping scales and the Fertility Problem Inventory, and questions about their sociodemographic characteristics, infertility-related history, and key social relationships. Four linear regression analyses were performed on four coping strategies: active-avoidance coping (AAC), active-confronting coping (ACC), passive-avoidance coping (PAC), and meaning-based coping (MBC).

The findings show that high infertility-related stress significantly predicted the use of avoidance coping strategies (AAC and PAC) among these women, while those with a high level of perceived social support tended to use ACC and MBC. None of the four linear regression models support the moderating role of social support in the relationship between infertility-related stress and coping styles.

The study findings show that levels of infertility-related stress and perceived social support have a direct effect on the choice of coping strategies among Vietnamese women diagnosed with infertility. The study results have practical implications in the Vietnamese context, including: (i) the development and adaptation of evidence-based and culturally appropriate interventions and counselling strategies; and (ii) social policy advocacy to better support women diagnosed with infertility, their husbands, and both as couples.