ArticleReproductive biomedicine & society online2016
Infertility-related stress, anxiety and ovarian stimulation: can couples be reassured about the effects of psychological factors on biological responses to assisted reproductive technology?
Article in Reproductive biomedicine & society online, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Is stress different in infertile women and men? A systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Psychosocial Aspects of Gestational Grief in Women Undergoing Infertility Treatment: A Systematic Review of Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Analysis of couple communication patterns as a mediator of fertility-related stress and psychological capital in women with severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome after embryo transfer.Scientific reports · 2025Observational
- Women's Narratives on Infertility as a Traumatic Event: An Exploration of Emotional Processing through the Referential Activity Linguistic Program.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Relationship Between Dyadic Coping with Anxiety and Depression in Infertile Couples: Gender Differences and Dyadic Interaction.Psychology research and behavior management · 2023Article
- Effects of Self-Esteem on the Associations Between Infertility-Related Stress and Psychological Distress Among Infertile Chinese Women: A Cross-Sectional Study.Psychology research and behavior management · 2021Article
- Hair Cortisol Concentrations as a Biomarker to Predict a Clinical Pregnancy Outcome after an IVF Cycle: A Pilot Feasibility Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Working With Infertile Couples Seeking Assisted Reproduction: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study With Infertility Care Providers.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
- Women's Reports of Barriers to and Facilitators of Oral Medication Adherence During Ovarian Stimulation: A Mixed Methods Pilot Study.Journal of reproduction & infertilityArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The aim of this prospective, longitudinal study was to examine the association between couples' pre-treatment psychological characteristics (state anxiety and infertility-related stress levels of both partners) and ovarian response during assisted reproductive technology treatment in a well-controlled sample. A total of 217 heterosexual couples (434 patients), suffering from primary infertility and undergoing their first assisted reproductive technology treatment at the Reproductive Medicine Unit of ANDROS Day Surgery Clinic in Palermo (Italy), were recruited. Psychological variables were assessed using the State Scale of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) and the Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI). The number of follicles ≥ 16 mm in diameter, evaluated by transvaginal ultrasound scan on the eleventh day of the workup, was chosen as the outcome measure. No association between women's level of anxiety and infertility-related stress, and the number of follicles ≥ 16 mm in diameter was found. Moreover, the male partner's infertility stress and anxiety did not influence the relationship between the woman's infertility-related stress, anxiety level and ovarian response. Fertility staff should reassure couples that the woman's biological response to ovarian stimulation is not influenced by either partner's level of psychological distress.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.