Testing an Evidence-Based Self-Help Program for Infertility-Related Distress in Women

Summary

Now affecting one in six couples in Canada, infertility is defined as a lack of conception after 12 or more months of regular, unprotected sexual intercourse. Infertility can result from a number of causes; however, women are responsible for accommodating rigid treatment regimens and carry a disproportionate share of the psychological burden associated with infertility. Thirty to forty percent of women presenting for the evaluation of infertility experiencing clinically significant depression or anxiety. Yet access to infertility-specific mental health resources is extremely limited in Canada; current psychological interventions are not specialized to this population and are largely ineffective at reducing distress. Therefore, there is an enormous need to increase the efficacy and accessibility of mental health resources for this population.

To address this need, the 7-week Coping with Infertility (CWI) program was developed in collaboration with women with lived experience with infertility. The CWI program aims to reduce distress related to infertility and was recently tested in a small pilot study, where it was found to be very effective in reducing depression and anxiety and improving quality of life among individuals struggling to get pregnant. The goal of this clinical study is to test the CWI program in adult women experiencing infertility. The main questions it aims to answer are if the CWI program is effective at improving mental health and well-being in women experiencing infertility, and if demographic or lifestyle factors moderate the effect of the treatment. For seven weeks, participants will receive the CWI program and complete online questionnaires and interviews to assess the program's effects on infertility-related distress, quality of life, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and relationship quality. They will then complete these questionnaires biweekly for 16 weeks following the program. Researchers will compare the CWI program to a waitlist/treatment as usual control condition to see if the program reduces psychological distress above and beyond women's ordinary coping strategies. If the program is effective in improving psychological well-being in this clinical study, the researchers will make the program widely and freely available to women throughout Canada and the world.

Conditions

• Infertility
• Distress, Emotional
• Mental Health Issue

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Coping with Infertility Self-Help Program

The CWI program consists of seven 10-minute videos, each with accompanying homework assignments. The first module, cognitive restructuring, includes instructions on challenging extreme or unhelpful automatic thoughts. The second module, challenging negative core beliefs, includes looking for patterns in thinking that illustrate core beliefs. The third module features behavioural activation techniques and emphasizes the importance of regular pleasure and skill-based activities. The fourth module highlights coping with grief and factors that contribute to grief, such as individual differences in grieving style. The fifth module supports strengthening relationships through responding to requests for affection and outlines several common relationship mistakes. The sixth module demonstrates how to identify and use values to make decisions and guide behaviour. The seventh module summarizes how thoughts, actions, and interactions can contribute to well-being when experiencing infertility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Calgary

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Regina

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jennifer L. Gordon, Ph.D. · Unviersity of Regina

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-09-30

Primary Completion

2025-09-30

Completion

2025-09-30

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations