Coping strategies for infertile couples
Keywords:
psychological distress, coping strategies, infertility, moderation, coupleAbstract
The main objective of the present study is to investigate the relationship between infertility duration, psychological distress and coping strategies. The participants (76 couples with fertility difficulties) completed a test battery that included the following: (a) the „Brief COPE” (Carver, 1997) for identifying coping strategies; (b) „Fertility Problem Inventory”, used for evaluating infertility related stress (Newton, Sherrard & Glavac, 1999). After the statistical analysis the following hypotheses were confirmed: (1) Disfunctional coping strategies are positively associated with psychological distress, while functional coping strategies are negatively associated with psychological distress; (2) There are gender differences regarding coping strategies; (3) Short infertility duration (1–2 years) is associated with maladaptive coping strategies (such as behavioural disengagement), whereas medium/long infertility duration (3–5 years and over 6 years) is associated with adaptive coping strategies (planning and venting); (4) Coping strategies moderates the relationship between infertility duration and emotional distress related to infertility. These results showcase the importance of an adequate intervention strategy for supporting couples that have received an infertility diagnosis. For example, an intervention would involve screening for psychological distress and social pressure, receiving suggestions regarding how to handle distress, followed by counselling and recommendations for men and women dealing with infertility.
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