Emotional disorders, marital adaptation and the moderating role of social support for couples under treatment for infertility

Abstract

Objectives: Over the last few years, the impact of infertility on the psychological well-being of couples has been well recognised. Men and women with infertility experience stress, anxiety and depression and their relationship might be under pressure.

Material and methods: We conducted a non-experimental correlational descriptive study where transversal analysis using questionnaires and quantitative data was performed for 76 couples with diagnosed infertility under the care of various reproductive medicine clinics in Romania between 2018 to 2019. Participants were asked to fill, via internet or in person, a set of tests including data on socio-demographic and infertility characteristics along with five psychological tests: The Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), Dyadic Adjustment Scale and Interpersonal Support Evaluation List-12. The aim of the study was to explore how couples with infertility respond and adapt to this diagnosis and to assess the relationship between emotional disorders, marital adjustment and social support.

Results: Mean age of females was 34.2 and of males 36.7 and 38.2% of the couples were experiencing infertility for > 6 years. Women had worse scores on infertility-related distress (FPI) (t = -4.35, p = 0.01), on the BDI depression scale (t = -5.43, p = 0.01) and on anxiety scales (t = -5.48, p = 0.01). Participants with a longer duration of infertility scored significantly higher on infertility-related distress than those with more recent difficulties. Marital adjustment scores correlated negatively with emotional disorders. Both appraisal social support and belonging support moderated the relationship between state-anxiety and marital adjustment.

Conclusions: Infertility carries a significant psychological burden for the couple and the longer its duration, the higher the distress level. Women seem to be more vulnerable to its psychological consequences. Marital adjustment correlates negatively with the degree of emotional disorders. In couples with high levels of social support, the relationship between state-anxiety and marital adjustment was negatively correlated.

Keywords: emotional disorder; infertility; marital adaptation; social support.