title: Mental health of women entering fertility treatment: What role do age and internal resources play?
abstract: Drawing on Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) model of stress and coping, the study aimed at (a) examining the associations between the mental health of women entering fertility treatment and their internal resources (hope and two aspects of self-consciousness: reflection and rumination); (b) indicating whether mental health is associated with age (above or below 35), and whether this association is mediated by the internal resources. The sample consisted of 137 women (76 aged 20-34; 61 aged 35-44) at the start of fertility treatment who completed a series of self-report questionnaires. Results indicated that younger women reported higher distress and rumination than older women. Higher hope was associated with greater well-being, and higher rumination was associated with greater distress. Furthermore, hope and rumination were found to mediate the association between age and mental health. These findings highlight the importance of developing age-based interventions for women entering fertility treatment, aimed at strengthening their resilience to effectively cope with the demanding process ahead.
authors.affiliation: The Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Shirley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ben Shlomo
authors.affiliation: The Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Skvirsky
authors.affiliation: The Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Orit
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Taubman-Ben-Ari
authors.affiliation: The Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.|Maccabi Healthcare, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Yoseph
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Azuri
authors.affiliation: The Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.|Maccabi Healthcare, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Eran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Horowitz
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D065026:Hope / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000523:psychology*; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D000074222:Rumination, Cognitive / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: age; fertility treatment; hope; mental health; self-consciousness