Determinants of relationship satisfaction in women with infertility

Neplodnost sa sobom nosi brojne izazove, a sama pomisao da se neće ostvariti kao roditelji može biti emocionalno opterećujuća za parove. Poznato je da partnerski odnos predstavlja primarni izvor socijalne podrške kod većine parova te može biti protektivan čimbenik prilikom suočavanja s problemom neplodnosti. Mnoga empirijska istraživanja ukazala su na značajan doprinos različitih čimbenika zadovoljstvu partnerskim odnosom, među kojima se ističu stabilnost veze/braka, prisnost, komunikacija, konflikti, seksualno zadovoljstvo i stres. Cilj ovog istraživanja je ispitati odrednice zadovoljstva partnerskim odnosom kod žena s problemom neplodnosti, kao i povezanost nekih karakteristika neplodnosti s aspektima kvalitete partnerskog odnosa i stresa specifičnog za neplodnost. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 155 žena s problemom neplodnosti. Uz korišteni jednokratni korelacijski nacrt, mjerni instrumenti primijenjeni u ovom istraživanju su: Upitnik percepcije kvalitete bračnog odnosa (UPKBO) i Upitnik problema neplodnosti (FPI). Rezultati su ukazali na značajno niže partnersko i seksualno zadovoljstvo te višu razinu stresa specifičnog za neplodnost u situaciji kada je od dijagnoze neplodnosti prošlo više od tri godine. Nadalje, nije utvrđena značajna razlika u pojedinim aspektima kvalitete partnerskog odnosa s obzirom na uzrok neplodnosti, dok je stres uslijed neplodnosti bio značajno izraženiji kod žena s neplodnosti muškog uzroka. Procjene za sve aspekte kvalitete partnerskog odnosa bile su više u situaciji kada žena nije imala dijete. Hijerarhijska regresijska analiza pokazala je da veća stabilnost veze/braka, prisnost, seksualno zadovoljstvo te uključenost u tretman između 2 i 3 godine predviđaju zadovoljstvo partnerskim odnosom kod žena s problemom neplodnosti. Bračni status je značajan prediktor partnerskog zadovoljstva, pri čemu neudane žene, u odnosu na udane, imaju značajno niže zadovoljstvo. Konflikti, komunikacija i stres specifičan za neplodnost nisu se pokazali prediktivnim za partnersko zadovoljstvo. Dobiveni nalazi ukazuju na važnost razvoja adekvatnih programa podrške ženama i njihovim partnerima u svrhu poboljšavanja odnosa i jačanja temeljnog sustava podrške u suočavanju s problemom neplodnosti.Infertility brings many challenges, and the very notion that they will not be fulfilled as parents can be an emotional burden for some couples. It is well known that partnership is the primary source of social support for most couples and can be a protective factor in dealing with the problem of infertility. Many empirical studies have shown the significant contribution of different factors to the satisfaction of partner relationship, among which the emphasis is on marital stability, closeness, intimacy, communication, conflict, sexual satisfaction and stress. The aim of this study is to examine the determinants of satisfaction with partner relationship in women with infertility problems, as well as the association of some characteristics of infertility with aspects of the quality of partner relationship and infertility-related stress. The cross-sectional study included 155 women with infertility problems. The measurement instruments used in this study were: The Perceived Quality of Marital Relationship Scale (UPKBO) and the Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI). The results indicated a significantly lower relationship and sexual satisfaction and higher levels of infertility-related stress in a situation where infertility diagnosis lasted more than three years. Furthermore, no significant difference was found in some aspects of the quality of couple’s relationship with regard to the cause of infertility, while the infertility-related stress was significantly more pronounced in women with infertility due to the male cause. Estimates for all aspects of the quality of partner relationship were higher in the situation when a woman did not have a child. The hierarchical regression analysis has shown that higher levels of marital stability, closeness, sexual satisfaction and involvement in treatment between two and three years predicted higher levels of relationship satisfaction in women with infertility problems. Also, marital status was a significant predictor of relationship satisfaction, with unmarried women reporting lower levels of satisfaction. Conflict, communication and infertility-related stress were not predictive for the relationship satisfaction. The findings suggest the importance of developing adequate support programs for women and their partners in order to improve relationships and strengthen the basic support system in dealing with the problem of infertility