Abstract
Infertility is a challenging experience, affecting individual and couples’ adjustment. However, the way the members of the couple support each other may affect the experience of infertility and their adjustment. This study aimed to investigate the role of dyadic coping by oneself and by the partner in the association between the impact of infertility and dyadic and emotional adjustment (anxiety and depression) to infertility. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 134 participants (67 couples with infertility) completed self-report questionnaires assessing infertility-related stress, dyadic coping, dyadic adjustment, and depression and anxiety symptoms. A path analysis examined the direct and indirect effects between the impact of infertility in one's life and dyadic and emotional adjustment. There is an indirect effect of the impact of infertility in one's life on dyadic adjustment through men's perceived dyadic coping efforts employed by the self (dyadic coping by oneself) and women's perceived dyadic coping efforts of the partner (dyadic coping by the partner). Regarding the emotional adjustment of infertile couples, infertility stress impact had an indirect effect only on depressive symptoms through men's dyadic coping by oneself. The results highlight the importance of men's dyadic coping strategies for the marital adjustment of couples as well as for men's emotional adjustment. Findings emphasize the importance of involving men in the fertility treatment process, reinforcing the dyadic nature of infertility processes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 509-523 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Family Process |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2018 Family Process Institute
Funding
This study was developed within the Relationships, Development & Health Research Group of the R&D Unit Cognitive-Behavioral Center for Research and Intervention (PEst-OE/PSI/UI0730/2014). Mariana Moura-Ramos was supported by a postdoctoral grant by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BPD/87514/2012). We thank the Servi©co de Medicina da Reprodu©cão do Centro Hospitalar e Universitario de Coimbra for their collaboration in recruiting participants for the study. We thank all couples for their participation in this study.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | SFRH/BPD/87514/2012, PEst-OE/PSI/UI0730/2014 |
Keywords
- Dyadic Coping
- Emotional Adjustment
- Infertility
- Marital Adjustment