Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Coping Strategies and Quality of Life of Infertile Women in Lahore, Pakistan

Zarrin Atif and Dr. Afsheen Gul

Abstract

Though infertility is not considered a life-threatening condition, it is perceived as a crisis in a woman’s life, due to the societal and cultural norms of Pakistan. The diagnosis is accompanied by psychological issues which impact the quality of life in women. The current research investigates the impact of stress, anxiety, and depression on the quality of life of infertile women and to understand the coping strategies adopted by them. A correlational research design was used and a purposive sample of 108 infertile women was taken from health centers. The Urdu translations of The Fertility Quality of Life, The Perceived Stress Scale, The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and The Brief COPE Scales were used. Pearson Product Moment correlation was used to understand the relationship between variables and mediation analysis was conducted through PROCESS software. Results show that anxiety and stress were significantly correlated with quality of life and maladaptive coping. Anxiety and stress also played a mediating role in explaining the relationship between maladaptive coping and quality of life. There was no significant difference between the mean scores of women diagnosed with primary and secondary infertility, indicating that women are going through the same struggles regardless of the type of infertility diagnosis. It is recommended that mental health awareness, counseling support, and social support interventions should be provided to women experiencing infertility in Pakistan.