Rj. Edelmann et al., COPING STRATEGIES AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT OF COUPLES PRESENTING FOR IVF, Journal of psychosomatic research, 38(4), 1994, pp. 355-364
The study was designed to examine the extent to which the psychologica
l profiles of couples entering an IVF programme were influenced by evi
dence of previous fertility, the history of fertility investigations,
the diagnosis made, and the coping strategies adopted. A sample of 152
couples was administered a number of standardized psychological instr
uments and a coping strategies questionnaire. They showed little varia
tion from the normative range on the standardized measures. There was
little evidence of differences between couples referred for primary or
secondary infertility, between those with some evidence of fertility
and those with none, or between different diagnostic groups. In relati
on to coping strategy, for women at least, taking direct action appear
s to be effective if it is associated with some degree of acceptance o
f one's position. For males, the picture is less clear, though direct
action and acceptance again appear to be effective coping strategies.