Abstracts Category : Other

Distress and infertility: the effects of importance of parenthood, stigma, and pressure

by Marthese Marina-Espinoza

Past literature indicated that women struggling with infertility reported higher levels of stigma and distress. This study examined whether infertility problems had deleterious impact on women???s mental health and if pressure from a spouse/partner and parents, importance of parenthood, and stigma worsened distress levels of infertile women. The data used were from the first wave of the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (NSFB), which is a sub-survey of the National Survey of Family Choices. Results showed that infertility was associated with depressive symptoms of women. Further, stigma increased depressive symptoms of infertile women while spousal expectations effectively decreased depressive symptoms of these women.Advisors/Committee Members: Ida, Aya Kimura.