Comparison of Resilience, Positive/Negative Affect, and Psychological Vulnerability Between Iranian Infertile and Fertile Men

Objective: To compare resilience, positive/negative effect, and psychological vulnerability between fertile and infertile men. Methods: The research sample consisted of 40 fertile and 40 infertile men who were selected among men who presented to an infertility clinic. To collect data, Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, Positive/Negative Affect Schedule, and Brief Symptoms Inventory were used. Results: The MANOVA results showed that infertile men had higher mean (SD) score for negative affect (46.15±8.31 vs. 23.10±8.50) and psychological vulnerability (37.90±12.39 vs. 23.30±6.40) than fertile men (P= 0.001); while infertile men had lower resilience (59.35±14.25 vs. 82.17±13.03) and positive affect (43.01±10.46 vs. 61.85±8.14) than fertile men (P= 0.001).The results of multiple regressions showed that resilience and negative affect had the highest significant contribution in prediction of psychological vulnerability in the infertile. Conclusion: Resilience and negative effects are the best predicators for mental vulnerability of infertile men. These factors may be addressed in future studies in infertile men.