title: Marital benefit and coping strategies in men and women undergoing unsuccessful fertility treatments over a 5-year period.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the relationship between infertility, marital benefit, and coping in a sample of men and women undergoing unsuccessful fertility treatments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective longitudinal cohort design using multilevel modeling.
  
  
  METHODS
  Danish public and private hospitals (n = 5) specializing in treating fertility patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were Danish men and women about to start a cycle of medically assisted reproduction treatment who were followed for a 5-year period of unsuccessful treatments.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Copenhagen Multicenter Psychosocial Infertility research program Coping Strategy Scales and Marital Benefit Measure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with men, a greater percentage of women reported high levels of marital benefit. For active-avoidance coping, there was a significant partner effect by gender interaction. Meaning-based strategies increased between 1 and 5 years for men and women. The use of meaning-based coping had a significant positive actor effect with marital benefit for both men and women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Approximately one-third of participants undergoing unsuccessful fertility treatments reported high marital benefit as a positive consequence of the infertility experience. Partner effects for men and women related to active-avoidance coping may be related to the degree of emotional support that each spouse can offer the other, whereas differences in meaning-based coping indicate a possible timing effect related to gender.
authors.affiliation: Chapman University, Crean School of Health and Life Sciences, Schmid College of Science, One University Drive, Orange, CA 92866, USA. bpeterson@chapman.edu
authors.forename: Brennan D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirritano
authors.forename: Jessica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Block
authors.forename: Lone
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D054541:Family Conflict / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D013997:Time Factors; D017211:Treatment Failure