Coping Strategies Associated with Emotional Adjustment during the Dyadic Experience of Infertility and Its Treatment: A Systematic Review.

Background: The aim of this systematic review was to reveal which of the coping strategies used by one partner are protective of and which pose a risk to the other partner's psychological adjustment during the treatment of infertility.

Material and methods: A systematic search of four electronic databases (PubMed, APA PsycINFO, SCOPUS, ScienceDirect), as well as the references of the retrieved articles, was performed between May and September 2023 for studies published from 1990 until 2023, using appropriate MeSH terms and associated text words. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Using an a priori developed pilot data extraction form, authors performed an independent extraction of articles. Information on participants, coping mechanisms, and psychological adjustment was extracted from each study. Relevant articles were critically appraised, and a narrative synthesis was conducted based on the different designs and outcome measures among the included studies.

Results: A total of 194 articles were retrieved, and 187 were excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria. After duplicates had been removed, five studies were included in the review. The results revealed that the psychological adaptation of infertile couples at an interpersonal level may be correlated with both the type of coping and the stage of the stressor (infertility treatment or in vitro fertilisation - IVF).

Conclusion: This systematic review suggests that health professionals could design and apply interventions based on modifying the coping mechanisms of infertile spouses to increase levels of well-being and decrease levels of distress.