Stress and marital satisfaction among women before and after their first cycle of in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
OBJECTIVE
To determine differences in emotional status (anxiety and depression) and marital satisfaction in pregnant and nonpregnant women before and after their first cycle of IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).


METHODS
Repeated measurement.


METHODS
Fertility department at a university and a regional hospital.


METHODS
Women entering their first treatment cycle of IVF or ICSI.


METHODS
Questionnaires on psychological factors were administered 3 to 12 days before the start of their first treatment cycle and repeated 3 weeks after the pregnancy test.


METHODS
State anxiety, depression, mood, and marital satisfaction.


RESULTS
At pretreatment, the women who became pregnant showed lower levels of depression than those who did not. Higher levels of depression in the pregnant women after the first cycle were due to higher scores on vital aspects of depression, related to signs of early pregnancy. Higher levels of depression in the nonpregnant women were due to a higher score on cognitive aspects of depression.


CONCLUSIONS
Differences in emotional status between pregnant and nonpregnant women were present before treatment and became more apparent after the first IVF and ICSI cycle. There were no differences in emotional status between the women who underwent IVF and those who underwent ICSI.
Verhaak
C M
CM
Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center St. Radboud, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. c.verhaak@cksmps.azn.nl
Smeenk
J M
JM
Eugster
A
A
van Minnen
A
A
Kremer
J A
JA
Kraaimaat
F W
FW
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001007:Anxiety; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017211:Treatment Failure