The Effectiveness of Stress Management Training (Cognitive-Behavioral STRATEGIES) on Perceived Stress and IVF Outcome in Women with Infertility

Infertility is a stressful phenomenon for infertile couples, which is related to their perception of infertility. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of stress management training on perceived stress and the outcome of IVF in women with infertility.

A clinical trial study was conducted on infertile women referred to the Shiraz Infertility Center under IVF. 70 infertile women were selected and those eligible to enter the study were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received an 8-session cognitive-behavioral stress management training program, while the control group did not receive any psychotherapy services. Both groups completed the perceived infertility stress questionnaire before and after the intervention. IVF after one month of investigation and data was analyzed using SPSS software and multivariate and univariate covariance test.

The findings showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of reducing perceived stress (F = 1031.68, p = 0.0005). But there is no significant difference in the result of IVF.

It seems that stress management training using cognitive-behavioral strategies can significantly improve the perceived stress of infertile women. This study suggests that stress management training should be included in the treatment program of infertile women.