According to the World Health Organization, infertility affects up to 15% of couples. It may be considered a particular condition characterized not by the presence of a pathological symptom, but by the absence of a desired state (Greil et al., 2010). Despite the recognition of the fact that it may be seen as a state that affects the couple regardless of which partner presents the functional impairment, most research in this field reserved little attention to psychological outcomes on men. Through the present study we aimed to explore how both members of couples undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) treatments lived this experience and what emotional effects (in terms of levels of anxiety and depression) it may produce on them. The sample consisted of 176 couples (mean age = 37.9 years; sd = 5.3) undergoing ART treatments in various Italian public and private hospitals. The tools we used included the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the Openness to Others Scale (OTOS). In addition a series of questions explored the story of the couple and the background of the couple’s desire of a child. Our findings highlighted that the decision to undertake an ART treatment was mostly suggested by females (with only 1.7% of the male sample). In addition men and women exhibited different patterns of psychological suffering caused by infertility with the latter showing significantly higher levels of depressive (F = 31.29; p < .001) and anxiety symptoms (F = 25.08; p < .001) than their male counterparts. With regard to males, the majority of our sample (56.4%) preferred not to share with others (such as family or friends) the choice of an ART treatment, unlike their wives who were much more open about their fertility problems (Chi-square = 34.31; p < .001). Taken together, these results suggest the importance to plan specific interventions differentiated by gender to psychologically support infertile couples.

Psychological outcomes in couples undergoing infertility treatment

BABORE, ALESSANDRA;TRUMELLO, CARMEN;CANDELORI, CARLA
2015-01-01

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, infertility affects up to 15% of couples. It may be considered a particular condition characterized not by the presence of a pathological symptom, but by the absence of a desired state (Greil et al., 2010). Despite the recognition of the fact that it may be seen as a state that affects the couple regardless of which partner presents the functional impairment, most research in this field reserved little attention to psychological outcomes on men. Through the present study we aimed to explore how both members of couples undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) treatments lived this experience and what emotional effects (in terms of levels of anxiety and depression) it may produce on them. The sample consisted of 176 couples (mean age = 37.9 years; sd = 5.3) undergoing ART treatments in various Italian public and private hospitals. The tools we used included the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the Openness to Others Scale (OTOS). In addition a series of questions explored the story of the couple and the background of the couple’s desire of a child. Our findings highlighted that the decision to undertake an ART treatment was mostly suggested by females (with only 1.7% of the male sample). In addition men and women exhibited different patterns of psychological suffering caused by infertility with the latter showing significantly higher levels of depressive (F = 31.29; p < .001) and anxiety symptoms (F = 25.08; p < .001) than their male counterparts. With regard to males, the majority of our sample (56.4%) preferred not to share with others (such as family or friends) the choice of an ART treatment, unlike their wives who were much more open about their fertility problems (Chi-square = 34.31; p < .001). Taken together, these results suggest the importance to plan specific interventions differentiated by gender to psychologically support infertile couples.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11564/664811
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