The Link Between Infertility-related Distress and Psychological Distress in Couples Awaiting Fertility Treatment: a Dyadic Approach

While there is broad evidence to suggest that individual stress increases, and that high couple relationship quality reduces the risk for psychological distress, our understanding of these associations in couples dealing with infertility remains limited. In this cross-sectional study, we used dyadic data-analysis (Actor-Partner Interdependence Model; APIM) to examine the effects of infertility-related distress (experienced as an individual risk factor) and couple relationship quality (experienced as a couple-based resource), on psychological distress in a sample of 116 infertile couples. 59% of women and 23% of men reported clinical levels of psychological distress, 71% of women and 45% of men reported infertility-related distress, and 3% of participants reported low couple relationship quality. Infertility-related distress predicted psychological distress at the individual level ('actor effects') while men's infertility-related distress predicted women's psychological distress (partner effect'). Women without medically assisted reproduction (MAR) treatment exposure reported significantly higher couple relationship quality than women with MAR exposure, and men without treatment exposure reported significantly lower infertility-related distress than men with exposure. The level of psychological distress depended on whether both or neither of the partners, or only one partner reported infertility-related distress. Couple relationship quality was not associated with distress, which may imply that dyadic dimensions other than overall satisfaction could be relevant in supporting couples facing infertility.