Cognitions in infertility: Development and validation of a questionnaire (KINT)

Infertile couples are often highly distressed by their childlessness and as k for psychotherapeutic help. A questionnaire was developed to assess infer tility-specific cognitions potentially relevant for treatment planning. Pri ncipal component analysis with varimax-rotation revealed four factors showi ng adequate internal consistencies. Results were supported by confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis on data of a second sample. In ter ms of interpretation. Factors represent stress reducing thoughts. emotion-f ocused thoughts, problem-focused thoughts and thoughts of helplessness. In validation, all four scales were correlated significantly with depressivene ss: only for stress reducing thoughts a negative association was found. Fur thermore, scales were related to different external criteria. Including spe cific coping strategies and resources. Gender differences are discussed.