The Effectiveness of Psychological Empowerment Package and Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Depression of Infertile Women in Pretreatment Stage of Invitro Fertilization (IVF): A Randomized Clinical Trail

Infertility as one of the most complex life crisis has many psychological consequences that directly or indirectly affect outcomes of invitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. This study was administered with the aim of determining the effectiveness of psychological empowerment package and dialectical behavior therapy on depression of infertile women in pretreatment stage of IVF.

This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 45 infertile women seeking IVF treatment who referred to infertility centers in Isfahan, Iran, in 2020. They were randomly assigned into two experimental and one control groups (each group 15 persons). The experimental groups were treated with psychological empowerment package (11 sessions) and dialectical behavior therapy (8 sessions) and the control group did not receive any intervention. Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21) questionnaire was used to assess the three groups in three stages (Pretest, Posttest, Follow up). Data were analyzed using two-way repeated measures ANOVA.

The two-way repeated measures ANOVA results revealed that there was a significance difference between  the psychological empowerment group and the control group in the mean of depression scores (p<0.001). Bonferroni post hoc test revealed that there was no significant difference between dialectical behavior therapy and psychological empowerment group and between dialectical behavior therapy and  the control group in the pretreatment stage of IVF (p>0.05).

According to the results of this study, the effectiveness of psychological empowerment in reducing depression of infertile women in pretreatment stage of IVF, it is recommended to use this method to reduce depression in infertile women.