Abstract Infertility and fertility treatments are major stressors for women and are often associated with psychological and social challenges that may undermine fertility-related quality of life (QoL). This study examined the relationships between generalized anxiety, depressive symptoms, coping strategies, and fertility QoL in women undergoing fertility treatment in Nigeria. Specifically, this study investigated whether coping strategies buffer the associations between anxiety, depression symptoms, and fertility QoL. A two-wave research design was adopted among 251 women receiving fertility treatment in federal healthcare facilities in southeast Nigeria. Data were collected using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-2), Copenhagen Multi-center Psychological Infertility (COMPI) Coping Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), and FertiQoL questionnaire. Pearson’s correlation and Hayes PROCESS Macro Model 2 were used for data analysis. Results showed that participants reported moderate fertility-related quality of life (FertiQoL mean = 71.18), elevated anxiety symptoms (GAD-2 mean = 4.82), and depressive symptoms (PHQ-8 mean = 10.62). Anxiety was significantly associated with poorer emotional and relational FertiQoL, whereas depressive symptoms were linked to poorer emotional, mind-body, and social FertiQoL domains. Coping strategies were positively associated with relational and social FertiQoL. However, coping strategies did not significantly moderate the relationship between anxiety, depressive symptoms, and fertility QoL. The findings indicate that anxiety and depressive symptoms substantially impair fertility-related QoL among women undergoing fertility treatment, highlighting the need for psychosocial and cognitive-behavioral interventions to improve well-being.
Elufidipe-Olumide et al. (Thu,) studied this question.