Perceived social support in solo women seeking treatment with donor gametes and in women in heterosexual couples seeking IVF-treatment with own gametes.

Solo motherhood is a family constellation that is becoming increasingly common in high income countries. The demographic characteristics of solo women entering treatment with donated sperm or embryo have been shown to be different from that of cohabiting women. The general importance of perceived social support is frequently amplified when health and quality of life are concerned, and positively affects mental health status, experienced stress, perceived self-efficacy during the transition to parenthood and during parenthood itself. The objective of the present study was to compare demographic characteristics, social network and perceived social support among solo women and cohabiting women awaiting fertility treatment. This objective was explored with a study-specific demographic and background questionnaire as well as through questions on access to practical support and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) assessing different sources of support. This study is a part of a longitudinal prospective multicenter study of solo women who awaited donation treatment in six Swedish public and private fertility clinics and a comparison group of women who were cohabiting/married to male partner and awaited in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment with the couple's own gametes. A total of 670 women were invited and 463 accepted participation (69% response rate); 207 solo women (study group) and 256 cohabiting women (comparison group). The results show significant differences in age, education, and employment between the groups. Solo women were on average 3.6 years older, had a higher level of education, a higher-income profession, and were more frequently working full time. Solo women perceived an equally high degree of social support from their families, significantly higher levels of support from friends and significantly lower support from a significant other compared to cohabiting women. Solo women expected their mother to be the most supportive person in future parenthood, while cohabiting women most often stated their cohabiting partner to fill that role. The study adds to the body of knowledge of solo women as a sociodemographic distinct group going at motherhood alone, stating a high degree of currently perceived and expected social support. The previously studied negative impact that lack of a co-parent might have, may be attenuated by the expected and perceived social support from family and friends.

Development of a Self-Help Web-Based Intervention Targeting Young Cancer Patients With Sexual Problems and Fertility Distress in Collaboration With Patient Research Partners.

BACKGROUND: The Internet should be suitable for delivery of interventions targeting young cancer patients. Young people are familiar with the technologies, and this patient group is small and geographically dispersed. Still, only few psycho-educational Web-based interventions are designed for this group. Young cancer patients consider reproductive health, including sexuality, an area of great importance and approximately 50% report sexual problems and fertility-related concerns following cancer treatment. Therefore, we set out to develop a self-help Web-based intervention, Fex-Can, to alleviate such problems. To improve its quality, we decided to involve patients and significant others as research partners. The first 18 months of our collaboration are described in this paper. The intervention will subsequently be tested in a feasibility study followed by a randomized controlled trial. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to describe the development of a Web-based intervention in long-term collaboration with patient research partners (PRPs). METHODS: Ten former cancer patients and two significant others participated in building the Web-based intervention, using a participatory design. The development process is described according to the design step in the holistic framework presented by van Gemert-Pijnen et al and evaluates the PRPs' impact on the content, system, and service quality of the planned intervention. RESULTS: The collaboration between the research group and the PRPs mainly took place in the form of 1-day meetings to develop the key components of the intervention: educational and behavior change content, multimedia (pictures, video vignettes, and audios), interactive online activities (eg, self-monitoring), and partial feedback support (discussion forum, tailored feedback from experts). The PRPs influenced the intervention's content quality in several ways. By repeated feedback on prototypes, the information became more comprehensive, relevant, and understandable. The PRPs gave suggestions concerning the number of exercises and pointed out texts and pictures needing revision (eg, experienced as normative or stereotypical) to increase the persuasiveness of the program. The system quality was improved by PRPs' feedback on design, technical malfunctions, and navigation on the website. Based on feedback about availability of professional support (technical problems and program content), the organization for support was clarified, which increased service quality. The PRPs also influenced the research project on an overall level by suggesting modifications of inclusion criteria for the RCT and by questioning the implementation plan. CONCLUSIONS: With suggestions and continuous feedback from PRPs, it was possible to develop a Web-based intervention with persuasive design, believed to be relevant and attractive for young persons with cancer who have sexual problems or fertility distress. In the next step, the intervention will be tested in a feasibility study, followed by an RCT to test the intervention's effectiveness in reducing sexual problems and fertility distress. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): 36621459; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN36621459 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6gFX40F6T).