Infertility stress and coping strategies in women and men undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment.

Aim: To describe coping strategies and infertility stress in men and women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. To determine whether there are differences in coping strategies between men and women and to identify adaptive and non-adaptive coping strategies for infertility.

Materials and methods: A correlational study, where 162 patients (99 women and 63 men) with primary infertility undergoing IVF treatment at Sanus Pardubice completed the Fertility Problem Inventory and COPE Inventory psychological questionnaires.

Results: There were no significant differences between women and men in experiencing infertility stress. The coping strategies used most frequently by both men and women were Positive Reinterpretation, Planning, and Acceptance; men used the strategies Restraint, Suppression, and Planning significantly more frequently than women; and women used the strategies Using Emotional Social Support and Religious Coping significantly more frequently than men. For both women and men, level of Global infertility stress significantly correlated with Denial in the positive direction and with Positive Reinterpretation and Acceptance in the negative direction.

Conclusion: Involuntarily childless women and men in IVF treatment experience similar infertility stress, but use slightly different coping strategies. For both men and women, Positive Reinterpretation and Acceptance emerged as adaptive strategies, while Denial emerged as non-adaptive.