Personality Traits and Depression in Infertile Couples during the COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Public Health

Background:

• Infertility affects couples undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART).
• The COVID-19 pandemic introduced new stressors, including fear, impacting mental health.
• Understanding the interplay of personality, COVID-19 fear, and depression is crucial for infertile populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between personality traits and depressive symptoms in infertile couples starting ART.
• To examine the mediating role of fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19S) in this relationship.

Main Methods:

• An observational study involving 179 infertile individuals (108 women, 71 men) in Sicily.
• Data collected using the Personality Inventory (PI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Fear of COVID (FCV-19S).

Main Results:

• Fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19S) positively correlated with neuroticism and agreeableness.
• FCV-19S showed a strong positive correlation with depressive symptoms.
• Neuroticism predicted both FCV-19S and depression; FCV-19S predicted depressive symptoms.

Conclusions:

• Neuroticism and agreeableness are linked to increased COVID-19 fear in infertile individuals.
• Women showed mild mood disturbances.
• While neuroticism and COVID-19 fear predict depression, the overall mediation model was not significant, indicating other factors may be involved.