Publication

What Are the Issues Confronting Infertile Women? A Qualitative and Quantitative Approach

Journal Paper/Review - Jul 1, 2010

Units
Keywords
foreign countries; females; childlessness; qualitative research; content analysis; mental health; psychological needs; computer mediated communication; Internet; German; health personnel; psychological patterns
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Citation
Hämmerli Keller K, Znoj H, Berger T. What Are the Issues Confronting Infertile Women? A Qualitative and Quantitative Approach. The Qualitative Report 2010; 15:766-782.
Type
Journal Paper/Review (English)
Journal
The Qualitative Report 2010; 15
Publication Date
Jul 1, 2010
Issn Electronic
ISSN-1052-0147
Pages
766-782
Brief description/objective

Infertility is a stressful experience, yet little is known about the specific issues confronting infertile women. In the present study, researchers sought to identify themes important to infertile women and examine possible associations with mental health levels. Using qualitative content analysis, researchers analyzed the email messages of 57 infertile women participating in a German-language Internet-based treatment for infertility. The themes most important to infertile women were emotions surrounding their wish for a child, coping with this unfulfilled wish, and medical aspects. Clinically anxious women reported substantially and significantly more negative and positive emotions than non-anxious women did (Mann-Whitney U(1)=178; p=0.034). Participants who were both clinically anxious and depressed reported more negative emotions and substantially fewer positive emotions when compared to participants who were solely anxious. The themes identified, considered important by infertile women, could be helpful to health professionals working in fertility treatment.