Infertility and adjustment in women: The effects of attachment style and social support

The moderating effects of two psychological resources-attachment style and perceived social support-on adjustment were studied in 109 infertile women, examining the effects of duration of infertility and of primary (the woman has no child of her own) versus secondary (the woman already has a child o f her own) infertility. Subjects were administered questionnaires measuring marital adjustment, psychological distress, and well-being. A model viewin g attachment style and social support as moderators between stress psycholo gical well-being was explored. The results showed that among the objective characteristics, only duration of infertility had any impact on the psychol ogical measures. Furthermore, the psychological resources were highly assoc iated with the adjustment scores in general. A hierarchical regression anal ysis showed that attachment style and social support both were related to m arital quality and to psychological well-being and that these two resources function as stress moderators. It was concluded that attachment style and social support are important resources for individuals in times of stress, as exemplified in the infertility situation.