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Article
Publication date: 10 December 2018

Johanna Czamanski-Cohen, Orly Sarid, Julie Cwikel, Eliahu Levitas and Iris Har-Vardi

Coping and communication strategies affect how one perceives potentially stressful life events, such as infertility. Cognitive behavioral interventions (CBI) can reduce the…

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Abstract

Purpose

Coping and communication strategies affect how one perceives potentially stressful life events, such as infertility. Cognitive behavioral interventions (CBI) can reduce the distress related to undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of CBI on the coping and communication skills as well as perceived stress and depressive symptoms of women undergoing IVF treatment. The authors also explored the relationship between coping strategies and pregnancy rates.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial of CBI in 50 women undergoing IVF (NCT00685282).

Findings

The authors found that CBI was associated with reductions in active-confrontive coping among over 50 percent of participants, which was also found to be positively related to depressive symptoms. Furthermore, high meaning-based coping at baseline and high-avoidant coping at the end of IVF treatment were associated with increased pregnancy rates.

Research limitations/implications

CBI can be helpful in reducing the perceived stress of women undergoing IVF; however, the adaptiveness of individual coping skills and communication skills vary. Since different coping strategies seem to be of benefit at different time points, further studies might benefit from the examination of engaging in context-dependent coping strategies.

Practical implications

Integrating mental health care on infertility units may assist in reducing the stress and thus quality of care in women undergoing IVF. Mental health care can be tailored to meet the individual needs of infertility patients based on their preferred coping strategies and communication style. Further research is needed to examine the cost benefit of reducing perceived stress in fertility patients.

Social implications

Infertility is a social and medical problem that has vast implications on the mental health of individuals. Providing support along with practical tools for stress reduction and improved coping and communication can result in reduced stress and improved coping.

Originality/value

This paper examined the effect of a cognitive behavioral intervention on the coping strategies and communication skills of women undergoing IVF and can contribute to our understanding of the value of integrating mental health and medical care.

Details

The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-6228

Keywords

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Book part
Publication date: 28 August 2023

Matthew E. Archibald, Rachel N. Head, Jordan Yakoby and Pamela Behrman

This study examines chronic illness, disability and social inequality within an exposure-vulnerabilities theoretical framework.

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines chronic illness, disability and social inequality within an exposure-vulnerabilities theoretical framework.

Methodology/Approach

Using the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), a preeminent source of national behavioral health estimates of chronic medical illness, stress and disability, for selected sample years 2005–2014, we construct and analyze two foundational hypotheses underlying the exposure-vulnerabilities model: (1) greater exposure to stressors (i.e., chronic medical illness) among racial/ethnic minority populations yields higher levels of serious psychological distress, which in turn increases the likelihood of medical disability; (2) greater vulnerability among minority populations to stressors such as chronic medical illness exacerbates the impact of these conditions on mental health as well as the impact of mental health on medical disability.

Findings

Results of our analyses provided mixed support for the vulnerability (moderator) hypothesis, but not for the exposure (mediation) hypothesis. In the exposure models, while Blacks were more likely than Whites to have a long-term disability, the pathway to disability through chronic illness and serious psychological distress did not emerge. Rather, Whites were more likely than Blacks and Latinx to have a chronic illness and to have experienced severe psychological distress (both of which themselves were related to disability). In the vulnerability models, both Blacks and Latinx with chronic medical illness were more likely than Whites to experience serious psychological distress, although Whites with serious psychological distress were more likely than these groups to have a long-term disability.

Research Limitations

Several possibilities for understanding the failure to uncover an exposure dynamic in the model turn on the potential intersectional effects of age and gender, as well as several other covariates that seem to confound the linkages in the model (e.g., issues of stigma, social support, education).

Originality/Value

This study (1) extends the racial/ethnic disparities in exposure-vulnerability framework by including factors measuring chronic medical illness and disability which: (2) explicitly test exposure and vulnerability hypotheses in minority populations; (3) develop and test the causal linkages in the hypothesized processes, based on innovations in general structural equation models, and lastly; (4) use national population estimates of these conditions which are rarely, if ever, investigated in this kind of causal framework.

Details

Social Factors, Health Care Inequities and Vaccination
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-795-2

Keywords

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