Contributors to Women's Perceived Stress at the Start of Assisted Reproductive Technology

Abstract

Clinicians are often called upon to treat the stress that accompanies Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). In this study, we sought to examine the contribution of the internal resources of meaning in life and attachment style and the interpersonal resource of self-disclosure to her mother to a woman's level of perceived stress upon commencement of ART. In addition, we examined the association between age and perceived stress. The sample consisted of 180 Israeli women (106 aged 20–34; 74 aged 35–44) who completed a series of self-report questionnaires after their initial meeting with a fertility specialist. Regression analysis indicated that older age, lower attachment anxiety, higher perception of meaning in life, and greater self-disclosure to the mother were related to lower levels of perceived stress. Self-disclosure was also found to mediate the association between avoidant attachment and stress. The study highlights the importance of a woman’s personal and interpersonal resources for reducing the experience of stress in the early stages of ART. The results have practical implications for the development of professional interventions seeking to enhance these resources among women embarking on fertility treatment.

Keywords:

• Attachment
• infertility
• meaning in life
• self-disclosure
• stress
• women

Author Notes

Vera Skvirsky

MSW, is a clinical social worker and a PhD candidate at the Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University, under the supervision of Prof. Orit Taubman – Ben-Ari. Her studies focus on the mental health of women with fertility problems. The current study is part of her PhD dissertation.

Orit Taubman – Ben-Ari

PhD is a psychologist and a professor at the Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Her research focuses on intergenerational relationships and personal growth following life transitions, such as the transitions to parenthood and grandparenthood. She has published extensively in international journals, written chapters for several books, and is co-author of Grandparents of Children with Disabilities: Theoretical Perspectives of Intergenerational Relationships, published by Springer.

Shirley Ben Shlomo

PhD is a clinical social worker and psychotherapist specializing in parents, children, and youth. She is currently a lecturer at the Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Her research focuses on positive outcomes following life transitions, the representation of social work in the media, and developmental implications of intergenerational transmission of abuse and neglect. Her papers have been published in scientific journals and presented at international conferences.

Joseph Azuri

MD, is a family physician and a diabetes consultant in Maccabi healthcare services, and the chair of the institutional review board. He is a lecturer in the Tel Aviv University, Faculty of medicine and teaches both medical students, interns and residents. He serves as a member in the Ministry of Health – National Council of Health in the Community.

Eran Horowitz

MD, is a fertility physician and the director of Women Health Center of Maccabi health services in Ashdod, Israel. He is also a senior physician at the IVF unit at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wolfson Medical Center, Holon, Israel and holds a position of Lecturer at Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.