ABSTRACT
Purpose@#This study aimed to translate the Infertility Stigma Scale (ISS) into Korean and to evaluate its reliability and validity in the Korean context. @*Methods@#Data were collected from 350 women who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF). Data were analyzed using SPSS WIN 25.0 and AMOS 22.0. Content validity was analyzed using the item-level content validity index (I-CVI) and scale-level content validity index/averaging (S-CVI/Ave). The preliminary survey was conducted on 20 women who had experienced IVF at least once to check the level of understanding of the tool and the time required to fill out the questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test construct validity. Additionally, hypothesis-testing construct validity were tested. Cronbach’s α was used to assess the reliability. @*Results@#The Korean-ISS (K-ISS) consists of 25 items, excluding two items from the original ISS questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis identified four factors, which explained 75.6% of the total variance. The four distinct factors were infertility stigma with self-devaluation (56.8%), public stigma (8.1%), social withdrawal (6.5%), and family stigma (4.2%). In the confirmatory factor analysis, the 25 items in the four-factor structure were validated (χ 2 /df ≤ 3, RMSEA ≤ 10). The hypothesis-testing construct validity of K-ISS against FPI (r = .58∼.71, p < .001) and FQI (r = - .49∼- .65, p < .001) was tested and found to be significant. The internal consistency reliability of the K-ISS, assessed using Cronbach’s α, was .97. @*Conclusion@#The K-ISS has satisfactory construct validity and reliability; therefore, it can help minimize the negative impact of stigma by measuring the stigma associated with women experiencing infertility.
ABSTRACT
Purpose@#We aim to assess infertility stress, gratitude, and changes in couple relationship of the women under reproductive treatments and to identify the relationships between variables. @*Methods@#The subjects were 212 infertile women receiving reproductive treatments. The data were collected by self-administered questionnaires from June to August in 2019. The questionnaire consisted of the questions about infertility stress, gratitude and changes in their couple relationships. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, 1-way analysis of variance, and correlation coefficient were analyzed using the SPSS 26.0 Windows program. @*Results@#The level of Infertility stress, gratitude, and changes in couple relationship averaged 3.23±0.59 (range of 1 to 6), 4.85±1.06 (range of 1 to 6), 3.03±0.55 (range of 1 to 5), respectively. Infertility stress had a negative correlation with gratitude (r=-0.322, p<0.001) and changes in couple relationship (r= -0.371, p<0.001). Gratitude also had a negative correlation with changes in couple relationship (r=-0.370, p<0.001). @*Conclusion@#The results revealed that infertility stress has a negative correlation with gratitude and changes in couple relationship. Thus, psychological interventions that can alleviate negative emotions should be provided.
ABSTRACT
Purpose@#We aim to assess infertility stress, gratitude, and changes in couple relationship of the women under reproductive treatments and to identify the relationships between variables. @*Methods@#The subjects were 212 infertile women receiving reproductive treatments. The data were collected by self-administered questionnaires from June to August in 2019. The questionnaire consisted of the questions about infertility stress, gratitude and changes in their couple relationships. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, 1-way analysis of variance, and correlation coefficient were analyzed using the SPSS 26.0 Windows program. @*Results@#The level of Infertility stress, gratitude, and changes in couple relationship averaged 3.23±0.59 (range of 1 to 6), 4.85±1.06 (range of 1 to 6), 3.03±0.55 (range of 1 to 5), respectively. Infertility stress had a negative correlation with gratitude (r=-0.322, p<0.001) and changes in couple relationship (r= -0.371, p<0.001). Gratitude also had a negative correlation with changes in couple relationship (r=-0.370, p<0.001). @*Conclusion@#The results revealed that infertility stress has a negative correlation with gratitude and changes in couple relationship. Thus, psychological interventions that can alleviate negative emotions should be provided.