Support From Health Care Providers and the Psychological Adjustment of Individuals Experiencing Infertility

Gender differences in experiences with and adjustments to infertility: A literature review

“…A total of four studies involved community-based samples (Brucker and McKenry, 2004;Mabasa, 2002;Maximova and Quesnel-Vallé e, 2009;Mumtaz et al, 2013), while the others involved clinic-based samples. Of the 29 quantitative studies, there were 25 cross-sectional studies, 2 longitudinal studies (Edelmann and Connolly, 2000;Maximova and Quesnel-Vallé e, 2009), 1 cohort study (Anderson et al, 2003), and 1 case-control study (Onat and Beji, 2012).…”

“…A total of 17 studies measured depression among infertile couples using a variety of instruments: the Beck Depression Inventory (Bak et al, 2012;Chachamovich et al, 2010;Cserepes et al, 2013;Edelmann and Connolly, 2000;Galhardo et al, 2011;Gü leç et al, 2011;Karlidere et al, 2007;Pinto-Gouveia et al, 2012;Sultan and Tahir, 2011), the Self-Rating Depression Scale (Liu and Zhao, 2011), the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (Musa et al, 2014), the Brief Symptom Inventory (Brucker and McKenry, 2004), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Anderson et al, 2003;Fatoye et al, 2008;Slade et al, 2007), the Symptom Checklist (Wischmann et al, 2009), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (Maximova and QuesnelVallé e, 2009).…”

Psychological and social aspects of infertility in men: an overview of the evidence and implications for psychologically informed clinical care and future research

“…As men appear to be more likely to confide in and desire information and emotional support from infertility clinicians rather than from friends or mental health professionals, explicit assessment of the emotional well-being of men at the initial assessment and during treatment might be beneficial. 31,65,77 The spontaneous disclosure of emotional needs and explicit support-seeking appear to be uncommon among men affected by infertility. Some investigators propose that the systematic assessment of mental health using psychometric questionnaires within assessment and treatment protocols would assist in the detection of psychological symptoms, but the acceptability and feasibility of these methods have not been established.…”

“…Some investigators propose that the systematic assessment of mental health using psychometric questionnaires within assessment and treatment protocols would assist in the detection of psychological symptoms, but the acceptability and feasibility of these methods have not been established. 77 If clinicians are willing, then an explicit enquiry using the statement and question method can be an effective clinical tool (e.g., 'I have met many men experiencing infertility, and they often feel sad, worried, embarrassed, lonely, etc. '; followed by the enquiry: 'Have you had any feelings of this kind?'…”

The Pain and the Promise of Unfilled Dreams: Infertile Couples

“…Issues include reactions to the infertility diagnosis, gender differences in stress and coping, and parenting following successful ART (Schmidt, Holstein, Boivin, Sangren, et al, 2003;Schmidt, Holstein, Boivin, Tjorhnhoj-Thomsen, et al, 2003). Brucker and McKenry (2004) examined the relationship between support from health care providers (HCPs) and psychological adjustment in 120 men and women experiencing infertility. For women, perceived support from HCPs did not predict levels of stress, depression, or anxiety.…”