Abstract
Do mode of conception [ART versus Natural (NC)] and depression have an interactive effect on antenatal paternal adjustment and paternal attitudes? Depression increased the negative effect of ART on antenatal paternal adjustment and paternal attitudes, specifically on antenatal marital relationship satisfaction. Research on antenatal paternal adjustment and paternal attitudes after ART is scarce and has produced inconsistent results. This cross-sectional study assessed 197 primiparous men (71 ART and 126 NC) during their partner's second trimester of gestation. Participants were derived from three larger longitudinal studies recruited at public Health Services in Northern Portugal. All men, for who this was their first child and had filled in a socio-demographic questionnaire, measures of depression and anxiety, and antenatal paternal adjustment and paternal attitudes were selected. An interaction effect of mode of conception and depression was found on antenatal paternal adjustment and paternal attitudes. ART men showing high depressive symptomatology had lower antenatal marital relationship satisfaction than ART men showing low depressive symptomatology and NC men showing high or low depressive symptomatology. Due to the cross-sectional design of this study and the small sample size in the depression groups, the findings should be interpreted with caution. Specialized psychological support should be available for ART men screened with high depressive symptomatology as part of routine prenatal care appointments. This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/ 01662/2013), University of Minho, and at the Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia-Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) (UID/DTP/04750/2013). It was supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science) through National funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653) and through the Operational Programme Factors of Competitiveness-COMPETE within the project 'Health, Governance and Accountability in Embryo Research: Couples' Decisions About the Fates of Embryos' (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-014453), the FCT Investigator contract IF/01674/2015 and PhD grants (SFRH/BD/115048/2016, SFRH/BD/75807/2011 and SFRH/BD/40146/2007). The authors have no conflicts of interest.
Highlights
The transition to parenthood is a major life stage that prompts both men and women to achieve several developmental tasks in order to adapt to the biological, psychological and social changes involved (Cowan and Cowan, 2000; Figueiredo, 2014)
MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: An interaction effect of mode of conception and depression was found on antenatal paternal adjustment and paternal attitudes
Associations between the mode of conception groups were found with depression, and no associations were found with anxiety
Summary
The transition to parenthood is a major life stage that prompts both men and women to achieve several developmental tasks in order to adapt to the biological, psychological and social changes involved (Cowan and Cowan, 2000; Figueiredo, 2014). Antenatal paternal adjustment and paternal attitudes refer to men’s development as fathers and their adjustment to the transition to parenthood, and these factors can be assessed through the way in which the marital and sexual relationships, the partner’s pregnancy and the baby are viewed (Marks et al, 1992). Since the inception of infertility treatments (ART), a wide range of studies have examined maternal adjustment and maternal attitudes after ART (Hjelmstedt et al, 2003a,b; Ulrich et al, 2004; ŁepeckaKlusek and Jakiel, 2007). One study found that ART men reported lower sexual satisfaction during pregnancy and at 3 months postpartum than NC men (Ulrich et al, 2004). The few investigations exploring attitudes toward pregnancy and the baby reported that ART men had similar positive, ambivalent and negative attitudes about the growing baby as NC men (Ulrich et al, 2004) and found that ART men held less ambivalent attitudes toward pregnancy than NC men, while general attitudes toward pregnancy and the baby were similar (Hjelmstedt et al, 2003a,b)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
