The Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Psychological Distress among Infertile Women

Background aim: Infertility, as an important stressful factor in women’s lives, leads to an increase in psychological distress. Self-efficacy is one of the determinants, which is considered one of the basic structures of mental health. This study was conducted to measure the relationship between self-efficacy and psychological distress in infertile women. Methods: This descriptive correlational study was done on 205 infertile women attended Milad Infertility Research Center in Mashhad, Iran, who were selected via convenience sampling. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Tara Infertility Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and the Akios Infertility Distress Questionnaire. Infertile women who met the inclusion criteria completed the questionnaires in a self-report basis. The data was analyzed with SPSS 20 using descriptive statistics as well as Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficient tests. Results: The mean score of self-efficacy was moderate (51.70±12.29) and the mean score of infertility-related distress was relatively high (81.38 13± 13.14). There was a direct and significant relationship between self-efficacy and infertilityrelated distress (P = 0.001), i.e., higher self-efficacy was associated with less infertility-related distress. There was no significant relationship between either self-efficacy or infertility-related distress with women’s age, education, length of marriage, duration of infertility, and duration of infertility treatment. Conclusion: It is recommended to incorporate self-efficacy promotion programs into the treatment process of infertile couples in order to control the adverse psychological effects of infertility such as infertility distress.