Effects of gender roles, child wish motives, subjective well-being, and marital adjustment on infertility-related stress: a preliminary study with a Hungarian sample of involuntary childless men and women

Purpose

The aim of the study is to investigate the infertility-related stress in a Hungarian infertile population and examine the effects of gender roles, child wish motives, subjective well-being, and marital relationship on the experience of infertility according to our self-constructed conceptual framework.

Methods

Validated self-report questionnaires measuring the factors of the conceptual framework were taken in the study carried out in a sample of 53 people attending the fertility unit of a Hungarian clinic.

Results

Infertility-related global stress, infertility-related social concerns, and general health problems have more intensive effect on women than on men (all p < 0.05). Women from the infertile group scored higher their femininity (p < 0.001) and lower their general health (p < 0.05) than the reference population. Infertile men believe deeper in meaning of life than women (p < 0.05) or reference population (p < 0.01). Femininity (β = 0.460, p < 0.05), traditional gender role concepts (β = ?0.248, p < 0.05), general health (β = ?0.474, p < 0.05), and marital relationship (β = ?0.251, p < 0.05) play the strongest role to predict stress caused by infertility.

Conclusions

The current study emphasizes the importance of interrelations of gender role attitudes, gender role identification, general health, and satisfaction in couple relationship with infertility-related stress. In further investigations, both social and personal aspects and their effect on experiencing infertility need to be measured in infertile people, particularly in different cultural settings.