The Study of Relationship among Infertility Stress, Gratitude, and Couple Relationship Changes of Women Undergoing Reproductive Treatments

Purpose: We aim to assess infertility stress, gratitude, and changes in couple relationship of the women under reproductive treatments and to identify the relationships between variables. Methods: The subjects were 212 infertile women receiving reproductive treatments. The data were collected by self-administered questionnaires from June to August in 2019. The questionnaire consisted of the questions about infertility stress, gratitude and changes in their couple relationships. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, 1-way analysis of variance, and correlation coefficient were analyzed using the SPSS 26.0 Windows program. Results: The level of Infertility stress, gratitude, and changes in couple relationship averaged 3.23±0.59 (range of 1 to 6), 4.85±1.06 (range of 1 to 6), 3.03±0.55 (range of 1 to 5), respectively. Infertility stress had a negative correlation with gratitude (r=-0.322, p<0.001) and changes in couple relationship (r= -0.371, p<0.001). Gratitude also had a negative correlation with changes in couple relationship (r=-0.370, p<0.001). Conclusion: The results revealed that infertility stress has a negative correlation with gratitude and changes in couple relationship. Thus, psychological interventions that can alleviate negative emotions should be provided.