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Keshavarz F, Mosalanejad L, Ghavi F, Abdollahifard S, Khodabakhshi Koolaee A. Coping Strategies and Perceived Stress in Infertile Couples. JCCNC 2018; 4 (2) :80-87
URL: http://jccnc.iums.ac.ir/article-1-174-en.html
1- Student Research Committee, School of Allied Medical Science, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
2- Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Jahrom, Iran.
3- Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
4- Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
5- Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Khatam University, Tehran, Iran. , a.khodabakhshid@khatam.ac.ir
Abstract:   (3855 Views)
Background: Infertility can lead to major bio-psychological disorders. Coping strategies help individuals adapt to unpredictable conditions in a systematic way. The present study aimed to determine the perceived stress of couples undergoing treatment for infertility, as well as their coping strategies and correlation between the studied variables and gender. 
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on 140 infertile couples undergoing infertility treatment at the Infertility Center of Yazd, Yazd City, Iran. The relevant data were collected by Perceived Stress Scale and Billings and Moos’s Coping Responses Inventory. Then, the obtained data were analyzed by descriptive statistics (relative frequency percentage, mean and standard deviation), Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis in SPSS. 
Results: The obtained results suggest that the mean score of perceived stress is higher in women. Moreover, women more frequently use problem-focused mechanisms, while men more frequently use emotion-focused mechanisms. In both men and women, a positive significant relationship exist between positive perceived stress and coping mechanisms; the former predicted the latter. While, the mean scores for avoidant and behavioral coping mechanisms were higher in men, the mean scores for cognitive coping mechanisms were higher in women (P<0.05). However, women achieved higher scores for both problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies.
Conclusion: there is a significant and positive correlation between perceived stress and coping mechanisms in both sexes. In addition, stress predicts the kind of coping strategies in these people. On the whole, psychiatric approach and counseling may enhance the mental health of infertile couples and increase the chance of success in this costly treatment.
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● The perceived stress scores are higher in women than in men.
● Women use the problem-focused mechanisms, while men use emotion-focused mechanisms.
● There is a positive significant relationship between positive perceived stress and coping mechanisms in both men and women.
● Useful coping strategies are playing key role in mental health of infertile couples.
Plain Language Summary
Infertility is a stressful incident that can threaten the stability of the marriage, family and the society. Some researchers believe that psychological elements such as coping strategies to face the r problems and perceived stress are very important in dealing with infertility. Our present study try to explain how coping strategies and stress can impact couples who are under treatment of infertility. Based on the results, perceived stress was higher in women. Moreover, women used problem-focused mechanisms more frequently, while men used emotion-focused mechanisms more. In both men and women, there was a positive significant relationship between positive perceived stress and coping mechanisms. In dealing with stress using the proper coping strategies like problem-focused are more useful than emotional-focused ones. For learning better coping strategies, couples needs the individual and group counseling and psychotherapy sessions along with the medical infertility treatment programs.

Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2018/01/2 | Accepted: 2018/04/5 | Published: 2018/05/1

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