Background: Infertility is a complex crisis of life and increases psychological difficulties such as anxiety and depression. Identification of copy strategies for stressful events like infertility is important. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between coping strategies with anxiety and depression symptoms in men and women’s infertile. Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted from 2011-2012 on 168 Iranian infertile couples referred to the Fatemeh Zahra infertility and reproductive health research center of Babol university of medical science to initiate assistant reproductive technologies and completed the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ), The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).The results were analyzed using t-test, the Pearson correlation and the stepwise model of multiple regression analysis. P < 0.05 was considered for level of significant. Results: Escape/ avoidance contributed the greatest amount of unique variance to the model for anxiety/de-pression of infertile women (P < 0.0001, P < 0.001) and followed by distancing (P < 0.0001, P < 0.01), accepting responsibility(P < 0.0001, P < 0.01). Seeking social support was the negative significantly predictor for both anxiety and depression in infertile women (P < 0.01, P < 0.01), but planful problem solving was the inversely predictor for only depression in infertile women (P < 0.01). Escape/avoidance was the only predictor factor of the model anxiety for infertile men (P < 0.01). Escape/avoidance and self controlling were the positive predictor (P < 0.001) and planful problem solving was the negative predictor for men depression (P < 0.05). Conclusion: men and women infertile who use dis proportionally maladaptive coping strategies such as escape/avoidance are predisposed to anxiety and depression symptoms. How using the coping strategies is very important in expressing anxiety and depression in infertile couples and t raining the adaptive coping strategies suggested by counseling centers.
KeywordsInfertilityCopingDepressionAnxiety
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