Objectives

Infertility is disproportionately associated with distress in women yet there has been limited research focusing on the relationship between coping strategies and fertility-monitoring techniques on distress in women struggling to conceive naturally.

Methods

Fifty-eight distressed women with infertility were recruited via social media. Every second day women's depressive and anxious mood was assessed in the morning and again in the evening along with their psychological coping strategies, the use of fertility monitoring techniques, and Fertility Quality of Life emotion subscale, over the course of one full menstrual cycle.

Results

During menstruation and statistically adjusting for morning depressive mood, active coping (β(SE) = −1.35 (0.36), p < .001) and behavioural engagement (β(SE) = −0.98 (0.35), p = .006) were associated with less depressive mood in the evening. Across all phases, social support seeking was associated with greater anxiety (β(SE) = 0.50 (0.20), p = .013) and lower emotional quality of life (β(SE) = −0.82 (0.32), p = .011). Use of fertility monitoring techniques was associated with heightened anxiety (M(SE) = 6.7 (0.2) vs. 5.9 (0.2), p < .001). The use of avoidance strategies (β(SE) = 3.22 (1.29), p = .016), endorsement of optimism (β(SE) = −4.72 (1.78), p = .011) and social support seeking (β(SE) = 3.09 (1.18), p = .012) throughout the cycle were significantly predictive of depression ratings following a negative pregnancy test, despite statistically adjusting for mean depression ratings throughout the menstrual cycle.

Conclusion

These findings highlight a number of cognitive and behavioural strategies that could be manipulated via psychological interventions to improve distress among women struggling to conceive.

中文翻译：

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受孕困难女性在整个月经周期的心理应对与情绪之间的关系

目标

不孕不育与女性的痛苦有着不成比例的关系，但关注应对策略和生育监测技术之间的关系的研究对于努力自然受孕的女性的痛苦来说是有限的。

方法

通过社交媒体招募了 58 名患有不孕症的苦恼女性。在一个完整的月经周期过程中，每隔一天在早上和晚上评估女性的抑郁和焦虑情绪，以及她们的心理应对策略、生育监测技术的使用和生育生活质量情绪量表。

结果

在月经期间和根据早晨的抑郁情绪进行统计学调整，积极应对（β（SE）= -1.35（0.36），p  < .001）和行为参与（β（SE）= -0.98（0.35），p  = .006）是与晚上较少的抑郁情绪有关。在所有阶段，寻求社会支持与更大的焦虑（β（SE）= 0.50（0.20），p  = .013）和较低的情绪生活质量（β（SE）= -0.82（0.32），p  = .011）相关）。使用生育监测技术与焦虑加剧有关（M(SE) = 6.7 (0.2) vs. 5.9 (0.2), p  < .001）。回避策略的使用（β（SE）= 3.22（1.29），p  = .016），乐观的认可（β（SE）= -4.72（1.78），p = .011) 和社会支持寻求 (β(SE) = 3.09 (1.18), p  = .012) 可以显着预测妊娠试验阴性后的抑郁评分，尽管对整个月经周期的平均抑郁评分进行了统计调整.

结论

这些发现强调了许多认知和行为策略，这些策略可以通过心理干预加以操纵，以改善难以受孕的女性的痛苦。