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. 2021 Jan;38(1):342-362.
doi: 10.1177/0265407520953903. Epub 2020 Oct 5.

Is a dyadic stressor experienced as equally distressing by both partners? The case of perceived fertility problems

Julia McQuillan  1 , Arthur L Greil  2 , Anna Rybińska  3 , Stacy Tiemeyer  4 , Karina M Shreffler  4 , Colleen Warner Colaner  5
Affiliations

Is a dyadic stressor experienced as equally distressing by both partners? The case of perceived fertility problems

Julia McQuillan et al. J Soc Pers Relat. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Using data from a population survey, this article explores whether perceptions of having a fertility problem among 926 U.S. couples in heterosexual relationships (women aged 25-45 and male partners) are associated with distress. Most couples did not perceive a fertility problem (58%). In almost a third (30%) of the couples, only women perceived a fertility problem; in 4%, only the men; and in nearly a fifth (19%), both perceived a problem. Adjusted for characteristics associated with fertility problems and depressive symptoms, those who perceived a problem exhibited significantly more depressive symptoms than those who did not. Fertility problems are sometimes experienced as individual because in some couples only one partner perceives a problem or has higher distress in response to their own rather than to their partners' perceived problems. For women, fertility problems are experienced as a couple phenomenon because women were more distressed when both partners perceive a problem. The perception of fertility problems is gendered in that women were more likely to perceive a problem than men. Furthermore, men are most distressed when they perceive a problem and their partner does not.

Keywords: Couples; depressive symptoms; infertility; life course; multilevel-models; stress process; survey research.

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