Department of Psychology, University of Los Angeles, California, USA.
Int J Behav Med. 2012 Sep;19(3):252-9. doi: 10.1007/s12529-011-9172-7.
Infertility often is a dyadic stressor that constitutes blockage of a major life goal.
This study's primary aims were to examine heterosexual partners' goal appraisals during treatment for infertility and to test whether the direct effects of and interactions between partners' goal-related perceptions were associated with each partner's adjustment.
Women (n = 37) receiving fertility treatment and their male partners (n = 37) completed measures of goal appraisal and psychological adjustment.
Partners did not differ on ratings of the importance of the goal of parenthood, but women indicated lower perceived chance of becoming pregnant and higher perceived goal blockage than their partners. Goal appraisals were moderately correlated between partners and uncorrelated with the number of treatment procedures undergone by the couple. Women reported greater depressive symptoms, more infertility-specific thought intrusion, and lower positive states of mind than their partners. Women's appraisal of greater likelihood of becoming pregnant was psychologically protective, but greater perceived likelihood of becoming pregnant reported by their partners was associated with women's negative psychological adjustment.
Examining the associations between couples' goal appraisals and psychological adjustment may aid in developing targeted interventions to promote psychological adjustment to infertility. The small sample may have prevented identifying interactions between partners' goal assessment measures.
不孕不育通常是一种双重压力源，它会阻碍一个主要的人生目标的实现。
本研究的主要目的是检验异性恋伴侣在接受不孕不育治疗过程中的目标评估，并检验伴侣对目标相关感知的直接影响和相互作用是否与每个伴侣的调整有关。
接受生育治疗的女性（n=37）及其男性伴侣（n=37）完成了目标评估和心理调整的测量。
伴侣在对为人父母这项目标的重要性的评价上没有差异，但女性比她们的伴侣表示怀孕的可能性较低，目标受阻的感觉较高。伴侣之间的目标评估是中度相关的，与夫妇接受的治疗程序数量无关。女性报告的抑郁症状、更多的不孕特异性思维闯入和更低的积极心态比她们的伴侣多。女性对更高怀孕可能性的评估具有心理保护作用，但伴侣报告的更高怀孕可能性与女性的负面心理调整有关。
检查夫妻目标评估和心理调整之间的关联，可能有助于制定有针对性的干预措施，以促进对不孕不育的心理调整。小样本可能阻止了识别伴侣目标评估措施之间的相互作用。
