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Article: Gratitude in infertility: A cross-sectional examination of dispositional gratitude in coping with infertility-related stress in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF)

TitleGratitude in infertility: A cross-sectional examination of dispositional gratitude in coping with infertility-related stress in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF)
Authors
KeywordsIVF
infertility
gratitude
reproduction
coping
Issue Date2019
PublisherOxford University Press. The Journal's web site is located at https://academic.oup.com/hropen
Citation
Human Reproduction Open, 2019, v. 3, article no. hoz012 How to Cite?
AbstractSTUDY QUESTION Do sense of meaning and acceptance mediate the relationships between gratitude and infertility-related stress among women undergoing IVF? SUMMARY ANSWER Among women undergoing IVF, the negative relationships between gratitude and infertility-related stress are explained by a general sense of meaningfulness and acceptance of life. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Infertility experts increasingly call for a re-balancing of the deficit-based view of psychosocial adjustment in IVF, which has been heavily dominated by studies of risk factors and psychological distress. Attention has been given to strength-based perspectives that emphasize character strengths and personal growth. Gratitude has been found to be a potent protective factor in coping with life stressors; however, its salutary effects and protective processes for infertile women undergoing IVF are yet to be explored. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION This study utilized baseline data of a randomized controlled trial for mind–body interventions with 357 Hong Kong Chinese women. Data collection was conducted between January 2015 and December 2017. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTINGS, METHODS Eligible women were approached by a research assistant immediately after their first medical consultation at an ART centre of a major university-affiliated hospital. Participants were asked to complete a battery of questionnaires, including the Gratitude Questionnaire-6, the Fertility Problem Inventory, and the Holistic Well-Being Scale. Mediation analyses were conducted with bootstrapped samples. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Of the 494 women who were approached, 357 (72.3%) provided informed consent and participated in the study. Results show that gratitude was negatively associated with all infertility-related stress domains (rs = −0.19 to −0.36), and these relationships are mediated by acceptance and loss of sense of meaning. Further, the link between gratitude and relationship concerns is mediated by loss of sense of meaning in women with a definable cause of infertility (95% CI = [−0.31, −0.08]), but by acceptance among those with unexplained infertility (95% CI = [−0.33, −0.01]). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION The cross-sectional nature of the study precluded inferences of causality. Self-selection and self-report biases could be present. Our findings may not be readily generalizable to women who do not intend to undergo psychosocial intervention for their infertility or ART. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Our findings support the salutary effects of gratitude in coping with IVF and highlight the role of unexplained infertility in the coping process. These findings offer preliminary support to the use of psychosocial interventions in promoting gratitude, acceptance, and meaning reconstruction for reducing infertility-related stress in women undergoing IVF. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This study was funded by the Hong Kong University Grant Council—General Research Fund (HKU27400414). All authors declare no competing interests. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER HKUCTR-1984.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/275155
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 8.3
ISI Accession Number ID

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorLau, BHP-
dc.contributor.authorYao, H-
dc.contributor.authorTam, MYJ-
dc.contributor.authorChan, CLW-
dc.contributor.authorNg, EHY-
dc.contributor.authorChan, CHY-
dc.date.accessioned2019-09-10T02:36:41Z-
dc.date.available2019-09-10T02:36:41Z-
dc.date.issued2019-
dc.identifier.citationHuman Reproduction Open, 2019, v. 3, article no. hoz012-
dc.identifier.issn2399-3529-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/275155-
dc.description.abstractSTUDY QUESTION Do sense of meaning and acceptance mediate the relationships between gratitude and infertility-related stress among women undergoing IVF? SUMMARY ANSWER Among women undergoing IVF, the negative relationships between gratitude and infertility-related stress are explained by a general sense of meaningfulness and acceptance of life. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Infertility experts increasingly call for a re-balancing of the deficit-based view of psychosocial adjustment in IVF, which has been heavily dominated by studies of risk factors and psychological distress. Attention has been given to strength-based perspectives that emphasize character strengths and personal growth. Gratitude has been found to be a potent protective factor in coping with life stressors; however, its salutary effects and protective processes for infertile women undergoing IVF are yet to be explored. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION This study utilized baseline data of a randomized controlled trial for mind–body interventions with 357 Hong Kong Chinese women. Data collection was conducted between January 2015 and December 2017. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTINGS, METHODS Eligible women were approached by a research assistant immediately after their first medical consultation at an ART centre of a major university-affiliated hospital. Participants were asked to complete a battery of questionnaires, including the Gratitude Questionnaire-6, the Fertility Problem Inventory, and the Holistic Well-Being Scale. Mediation analyses were conducted with bootstrapped samples. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Of the 494 women who were approached, 357 (72.3%) provided informed consent and participated in the study. Results show that gratitude was negatively associated with all infertility-related stress domains (rs = −0.19 to −0.36), and these relationships are mediated by acceptance and loss of sense of meaning. Further, the link between gratitude and relationship concerns is mediated by loss of sense of meaning in women with a definable cause of infertility (95% CI = [−0.31, −0.08]), but by acceptance among those with unexplained infertility (95% CI = [−0.33, −0.01]). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION The cross-sectional nature of the study precluded inferences of causality. Self-selection and self-report biases could be present. Our findings may not be readily generalizable to women who do not intend to undergo psychosocial intervention for their infertility or ART. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Our findings support the salutary effects of gratitude in coping with IVF and highlight the role of unexplained infertility in the coping process. These findings offer preliminary support to the use of psychosocial interventions in promoting gratitude, acceptance, and meaning reconstruction for reducing infertility-related stress in women undergoing IVF. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This study was funded by the Hong Kong University Grant Council—General Research Fund (HKU27400414). All authors declare no competing interests. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER HKUCTR-1984.-
dc.languageeng-
dc.publisherOxford University Press. The Journal's web site is located at https://academic.oup.com/hropen-
dc.relation.ispartofHuman Reproduction Open-
dc.rightsPre-print: Journal Title] ©: [year] [owner as specified on the article] Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of xxxxxx]. All rights reserved. Pre-print (Once an article is published, preprint notice should be amended to): This is an electronic version of an article published in [include the complete citation information for the final version of the Article as published in the print edition of the Journal.] Post-print: This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in [insert journal title] following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version [insert complete citation information here] is available online at: xxxxxxx [insert URL that the author will receive upon publication here].-
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.subjectIVF-
dc.subjectinfertility-
dc.subjectgratitude-
dc.subjectreproduction-
dc.subjectcoping-
dc.titleGratitude in infertility: A cross-sectional examination of dispositional gratitude in coping with infertility-related stress in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF)-
dc.typeArticle-
dc.identifier.emailChan, CLW: cecichan@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.emailNg, EHY: nghye@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.emailChan, CHY: chancelia@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.authorityChan, CLW=rp00579-
dc.identifier.authorityNg, EHY=rp00426-
dc.identifier.authorityChan, CHY=rp00498-
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.identifier.doi10.1093/hropen/hoz012-
dc.identifier.hkuros304789-
dc.identifier.volume3-
dc.identifier.spagearticle no. hoz012-
dc.identifier.epagearticle no. hoz012-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000661875900005-
dc.identifier.issnl2399-3529-

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