Women Undergoing IVF: Mitigating Anxiety and Stress and Building Infertility Self-Efficacy and Resilience Through Mindfulness Care

Abstract

This article reports a study investigating whether an online mindfulness-based intervention mitigates stress and anxiety and builds infertility self-efficacy and resilience among South Asian women (age range = 32–41 years) undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. A waitlist control design study was conducted with the intervention cohort (N pretest = 78, N post-test = 68) undergoing the 20 weekly sessions of online mindfulness intervention (OMI) and the control (N pretest = 78, N post-test = 65) group who did not undergo any intervention. Data were collected via an online questionnaire administered in English. The OMI was effective and the intervention group reported lower anxieties and stress and increased self-efficacy and resilience post-test (p < .05; Hedges’ g = −0.78 to 0.65) compared to the control group. Education, occupation, living arrangements, religion, socioeconomic status, OMI attendance, and home practice were significant predictors of intervention impact. Overall, highly qualified women, salaried/self-employed individuals, those living with a spouse alone, Hindu and Buddhist women, middle-class individuals, or those with at least 50% intervention compliance gained more from the OMI. Specifically, however, the discriminant function indicated that participants’ education, socioeconomic status, and living arrangements did not have significant post-test intervening effects on trait anxiety and certain subdimensions of resilience such as perception of future, social and family cohesion, and social resources. Intervention compliance mediated the association between sociodemographic predictors and outcomes. With adequate emphasis on intervention adherence, the OMI is effective for South Asian women undergoing IVF treatment incorporating some refinements for Christian and Muslim women, upper-class individuals, those who were moderately educated, homemakers, and those living with a spouse and kith-kin or extended family.