Abstract
Purpose: Gender-specific differences exist between male and female infertility patients' mental
health, the meaning of infertility in their lives, and the coping strategies used.
This systematic review examines whether gender-specific aspects are addressed in psychological
intervention studies for infertility and whether infertile women and men benefit equally
from such interventions. Methods: Databases were searched to identify relevant articles published between 1978 and
2007 (384 articles). The review included both controlled and uncontrolled psychological
intervention studies examining results for infertile women and men separately. Outcome
measures (depressive symptoms, anxiety, and mental distress) and gender-specific baseline
characteristics (mental distress at pre-assessment, cause of infertility, and medical
treatment) were collected. A total of twelve studies were finally included. Results: In 10 of 12 studies, women exhibited higher levels of mental distress than men. Gender-specific
aspects were not addressed in the psychological interventions. Examining the efficacy
of psychological interventions revealed that women exhibited stronger positive mental
health effects in 2 of the 12 studies. Conclusion: Psychological distress before psychological treatment seems more pronounced in women
than in men. Therefore psychological interventions for infertile couples should take
gender-specific aspects into account. More research is needed to address the gender-specific
aspects regarding psychological interventions for infertility.
Zusammenfassung
Fragestellung: Geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede zeigen sich bei infertilen Frauen und Männern
in der psychischen Gesundheit, in der Bedeutung der Infertilität für deren Leben und
in den verwendeten Bewältigungsstrategien. Mittels einer systematischen Übersichtsarbeit
wurde untersucht, inwiefern geschlechtsspezifische Aspekte in psychologischen Interventionsstudien
zur Infertilität berücksichtigt werden und ob infertile Frauen und Männer gleichermaßen
von solchen Interventionen profitieren. Methoden: In verschiedenen Datenbanken wurde nach relevanten Artikeln (384 Artikel), die zwischen
1978 und 2007 publiziert wurden, gesucht. Eingeschlossen wurden kontrollierte und
nicht kontrollierte psychologische Interventionsstudien, bei denen die Resultate für
infertile Frauen und Männer separat ausgewertet wurden. Als Ergebnismaße wurden depressive
Symptome, Angst und psychischer Stress und als geschlechtsspezifische Charakteristika
die Variablen psychischer Stress zu Beginn, Grund der Infertilität und medizinische
Behandlung erfasst. Insgesamt konnten abschließend 12 Studien eingeschlossen werden.
Resultate: In 10 von 12 Studien wiesen Frauen ein höheres Level an psychischem Stress auf als
Männer. In keiner der vorliegenden Interventionsstudien wurden geschlechtsspezifische
Aspekte berücksichtigt. In Bezug auf die Wirksamkeit psychologischer Interventionen
zeigten sich in 2 von 12 Studien größere Verbesserungen des psychischen Befindens
bei infertilen Frauen als bei infertilen Männern. Schlussfolgerung: Psychischer Stress vor der psychologischen Behandlung ist bei Frauen ausgeprägter
als bei Männern. Deshalb sollten geschlechtsspezifische Aspekte in psychologischen
Interventionen für infertile Paare berücksichtigt werden. Mehr Forschung zu geschlechtsspezifischen
Aspekten ist dafür notwendig.
Key words
infertility - gender - psychological intervention - review - mental health
Schlüsselwörter
Infertilität - Geschlecht - psychologische Intervention - Review - psychische Gesundheit
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K. Hämmerli
University of Bern
Institute of Psychology
Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
Gesellschaftsstraße 49
3012 Bern
Switzerland
eMail: katja.haemmerli@ptp.unibe.ch
