Psychological well-being and coping patterns in infertile men

Objective: To determine whether differences existed in mood and coping styles among fertile men, oligoasthenospermic men, or euspermic men whose wives were undergoing ovulation stimulation with clomiphene and IUI. Design: A cross-sectional research design. Setting: Hospital-based academic fertility clinic. Patient(s): 30 fertile men with currently pregnant wives, 30 euspermic and 30 oligoasthenospermic men in couples undergoing ovulation stimulation with clomiphene and IUI. Intervention(s): Measures of psychological well-being and coping were administered. Main Outcome Measure(s): Biodemographic information, and psychometric measures of mood and coping. Result(s): There were no significant differences among the groups on any of the measures except the Family Inventory of Life Events (FILE), in which fertile men reported higher stress levels. FILE scores in all groups were moderate, indicating typical levels of family stress. Conclusion(s): Mood and coping in the three groups were similar. This study suggests that men's psychological adjustment to their own infertility and to unexplained infertility is generally healthy. (Fertil Steril (R) 2000;74:702-6. (C) 2000 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.).