Optimism, Resilience, and Infertility-Specific Stress during Assisted Reproductive Technology

Abstract

Background: Infertility generates high levels of stress to women. The aim was to explore optimism and resilience among women undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART). Method: Participants were recruited in a private fertility clinic. The sample consisted of 229 women under medical treatment for fertility who completed the following self-report instruments: a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire, Resilience Scale (RS), Life Orientation Test (LOT-R), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and STAI State and STAI Trait. Results: Our data revealed that high resilience levels were associated with a reduced psychological stress (β = .02, p < .001, 95% CI [.34, .13]). A significant negative correlation between perceived stress and resilience (r = -.320, p = .001) was found. Conclusion: The findings highlight the protective mediating role of resilience when women are confronted with the negative effects of infertility diagnosis and assisted reproductive technology (ART), and therefore the potential utility of resilience to reduce infertility-specific stress.