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Direct and indirect effects of perceived social support on women's infertility-related stress.
Hum Reprod. 2011 Aug; 26(8):2113-21.HR

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Social support can be a critical component of how a woman adjusts to infertility, yet few studies have investigated its impact on infertility-related coping and stress. We examined relationships between social support contexts and infertility stress domains, and tested if they were mediated by infertility-related coping strategies in a sample of infertile women.

METHODS

The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Copenhagen Multi-centre Psychosocial Infertility coping scales and the Fertility Problem Inventory were completed by 252 women seeking treatment. Structural equation modeling analysis was used to test the hypothesized multiple mediation model.

RESULTS

The final model revealed negative effects from perceived partner support to relationship concern (β = -0.47), sexual concern (β = -0.20) and rejection of childfree lifestyle through meaning-based coping (β = -0.04). Perceived friend support had a negative effect on social concern through active-confronting coping (β = -0.04). Finally, besides a direct negative association with social concern (β = -0.30), perceived family support was indirectly and negatively related with all infertility stress domains (β from -0.04 to -0.13) through a positive effect of active-avoidance coping. The model explained between 12 and 66% of the variance of outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite being limited by a convenience sampling and cross-sectional design, results highlight the importance of social support contexts in helping women deal with infertility treatment. Health professionals should explore the quality of social networks and encourage seeking positive support from family and partners. Findings suggest it might prove useful for counselors to use coping skills training interventions, by retraining active-avoidance coping into meaning-based and active-confronting strategies.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Martins MV
Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, R do Dr Manuel Pereira da Silva, 4200-392 Porto, Portugal. mmartins@fpce.up.pt
Peterson BD
No affiliation info available
Almeida VM
No affiliation info available
Costa ME
No affiliation info available

MeSH

Adaptation, PsychologicalAdultFemaleHumansInfertility, FemaleMaleMarriageSocial PerceptionSocial SupportStress, Psychological

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

21596709

Citation

Martins, Mariana V., et al. "Direct and Indirect Effects of Perceived Social Support On Women's Infertility-related Stress." Human Reproduction (Oxford, England), vol. 26, no. 8, 2011, pp. 2113-21.
Martins MV, Peterson BD, Almeida VM, et al. Direct and indirect effects of perceived social support on women's infertility-related stress. Hum Reprod. 2011;26(8):2113-21.
Martins, M. V., Peterson, B. D., Almeida, V. M., & Costa, M. E. (2011). Direct and indirect effects of perceived social support on women's infertility-related stress. Human Reproduction (Oxford, England), 26(8), 2113-21. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/der157
Martins MV, et al. Direct and Indirect Effects of Perceived Social Support On Women's Infertility-related Stress. Hum Reprod. 2011;26(8):2113-21. PubMed PMID: 21596709.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Direct and indirect effects of perceived social support on women's infertility-related stress. AU - Martins,Mariana V, AU - Peterson,Brennan D, AU - Almeida,Vasco M, AU - Costa,Maria E, Y1 - 2011/05/18/ PY - 2011/5/21/entrez PY - 2011/5/21/pubmed PY - 2011/12/13/medline SP - 2113 EP - 21 JF - Human reproduction (Oxford, England) JO - Hum Reprod VL - 26 IS - 8 N2 - BACKGROUND: Social support can be a critical component of how a woman adjusts to infertility, yet few studies have investigated its impact on infertility-related coping and stress. We examined relationships between social support contexts and infertility stress domains, and tested if they were mediated by infertility-related coping strategies in a sample of infertile women. METHODS: The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Copenhagen Multi-centre Psychosocial Infertility coping scales and the Fertility Problem Inventory were completed by 252 women seeking treatment. Structural equation modeling analysis was used to test the hypothesized multiple mediation model. RESULTS: The final model revealed negative effects from perceived partner support to relationship concern (β = -0.47), sexual concern (β = -0.20) and rejection of childfree lifestyle through meaning-based coping (β = -0.04). Perceived friend support had a negative effect on social concern through active-confronting coping (β = -0.04). Finally, besides a direct negative association with social concern (β = -0.30), perceived family support was indirectly and negatively related with all infertility stress domains (β from -0.04 to -0.13) through a positive effect of active-avoidance coping. The model explained between 12 and 66% of the variance of outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Despite being limited by a convenience sampling and cross-sectional design, results highlight the importance of social support contexts in helping women deal with infertility treatment. Health professionals should explore the quality of social networks and encourage seeking positive support from family and partners. Findings suggest it might prove useful for counselors to use coping skills training interventions, by retraining active-avoidance coping into meaning-based and active-confronting strategies. SN - 1460-2350 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/21596709/Direct_and_indirect_effects_of_perceived_social_support_on_women's_infertility_related_stress_ L2 - https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/humrep/der157 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -