A Dyadic Study of Attachment, Coping, and Quality of Life in Couples Seeking Fertility Treatment.

This study examined attachment insecurities, infertility-specific coping strategies, and quality of life (QoL) in 87 couples seeking fertility treatment. Partners completed self-report measures. Path analyses showed that women's and men's attachment anxiety were associated with their own lower QoL, whereas attachment avoidance was associated with their own and their partner's lower QoL. Adaptive coping in men and women were associated with women's higher QoL. Non-adaptive coping was associated with men and women's lower QoL. Coping strategies explained the associations between attachment and QoL. This highlights the importance of individual and dyadic factors for understanding QoL in couples seeking fertility treatment.

Testing a New Group Intervention for Couples Seeking Fertility Treatment: Acceptability and Proof of Concept.

This study tested the acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a novel group intervention for couples seeking fertility treatment. Twenty-nine couples completed psychological, relational, and sexual outcome measures pre- and post-intervention. Repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed significant reductions in terms of depressive symptoms, rejection of childfree lifestyle, and stress related to the need for parenthood. The results also revealed improvements in marital benefits and fertility-related emotional and relational quality of life. Couples' high participation rates and reported treatment satisfaction indicate adequate acceptability. These results support the preliminary success of the intervention in reducing the psychological and relational burden for couples undergoing fertility treatment.

Whose fault is it? Blame predicting psychological adjustment and couple satisfaction in couples seeking fertility treatment.

Infertility bears psychological and relational consequences for couples who face this problem. Few studies have examined the role of self- and partner blaming to explain psychological and relationship adjustment in couple presenting with a fertility problem. This study used a dyadic approach to explore the links between blaming oneself and one's partner and both partners' symptoms of depression and anxiety, and couple satisfaction in 279 couples enrolled in fertility treatments. Partners were questioned about the extent to which they blamed themselves and their partner for the fertility problem. They also completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Index of Psychological Symptoms. Path analyses based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model showed that self-blame predicted anxiety and depression symptoms in both men and women. Men's self-blame also predicted their own lower relationship satisfaction, whereas women's self-blame predicted more depression and anxiety in their partner. Partner blame in women predicted their own and their partner lower relationship satisfaction. Women's tendency to blame their partner also predicted their own depression symptoms. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed.