THE PREDICTION OF MARITAL ADJUSTMENT BASED ON COGNITIVE EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES IN INFERTILE COUPLES

Infertility and its treatment bring about such consequences as disturbance,
frustration, depression, anxiety, hopelessness, feeling of guilt, and feeling of worthlessness in life. Using
adaptive emotion regulation strategies in the face of stressful life tasks reduce negative emotions and
increase individual adjustment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to predict marital adjustment based
on cognitive strategies of emotion regulation among infertile couples.
Materials & Methods: The present research was a descriptive correlational study. All infertile couples
referred to the Mother and Child Hospital of Shiraz in the summer of 2013 constituted the statistical
population of this study. The research sample consisted of 122 infertile couples who were selected via
convenience sampling method. Spanier's Dyadic Adjustment Scale and Cognitive Emotion Regulation
Questionnaire were employed to collect data. Data analysis was performed through Pearson correlation
and multiple regression analysis.
Results: The results showed that there is a significant negative relationship between marital adjustment
and Catastrophizing (r = - 0.31, p = 0.000). Also, there is a significant positive relationship between
marital adjustment and putting into perspective (r = 0.19, p = 0.003), marital adjustment and positive
refocusing (r = 0.36, p = 0.000), marital adjustment and positive reappraisal (r = 0.32, p=0.000), and
marital adjustment and refocus on planning (r = 0.30, p = 0.003). Multiple linear regression results also
showed that positive refocusing (B = 0.211, p = 0.01) and Catastrophizing (B = - 0.287, p = 0.000) have
predictive power of marital adjustment in infertile couples and explain for 22.6% of the variance of
infertile couples' marital adjustment.
Conclusion: The findings of this study confirmed the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation
strategies and marital adjustment of infertile couples. Therefore, it is suggested that the necessary
conditions be provided for the collaboration of infertility specialists with psychologists in infertility
treatment centers and it is also recommended that psychological counseling centers be established in
these centers in order to improve the mental health and marital adjustment of these patients.