Explaining the mental health model based on integrative self-knowledge and social support mediated by perceived stress in infertile women

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student, Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background: Infertility is one of the painful experiences in women's lives, exerting dramatic effects on their mental health.
 
Objective: The present study aimed to explain the mental health model based on integrative self-knowledge and social support mediated by perceived stress in infertile women.
 
Methods: This study was conducted based on a descriptive-correlational design. Among the infertile women who were referred to Royan Infertility Center and Sarem Hospital in 2018, 250 subjects were selected via the convenience sampling method. The data collection instruments included the Self-Knowledge Scale by Ghorbani et al. (2003); Measure of Perceived Stress by Cohen et al. (2003), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support by Zimet et al. (1988), and Mental Health Inventory by Veit and Ware (1983). To analyze the obtained data, Spearman correlation coefficient (using SPSS software) and path analysis (using LISREL statistical software) were used.
 
Results: As evidenced by the obtained results, the structural model has an acceptable fit with the collected data. Moreover, integrative self-knowledge and social support were, directly and indirectly, related to mental health in infertile women with the mediating role of perceived stress. Integrative self-knowledge, social support, and perceived stress accounted for a total of 42% of the mental health variance in infertile women.
 
Conclusions: Considering the effects of psychological factors on infertility, as well as the adverse effects of infertility on couples' lives, it can be concluded that the assessment of psychological factors and their improvement can be of great help to infertile women.
 

Keywords

Open Access Policy: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

1. Barghi Irani Z, Pirhayati Z, Pirgholi F. The Role of The Self-Esteem, Perceived Stress, Alexithymia and Cognitive Avoidance on The Sexual Function of The Fertilized and Unfertilized Women. Nurs Midwifery J. 2017;15(2):95-106.
 
2. Bavazin F, Sepahvandi M A. The Study of The Relationship Between Social Support and Social and Psychological Well-Being Among Elderly People in City of Khorramabad in 2017. Nurs Midwifery J. 2018; 15(12):931-938.
 
3. Aftab, R., Shams, A. Relationship Between Integrated Self-Knowledge and Resilience with Anxiety of Being Infected by COVID-19: The Mediating Role of Intolerance of Ambiguity, Worry, and Physical Activity. Sport Psychology Studies. 2020;9(32): 201-226.
 
4. Imani M, Karimi J, Behbahani M, Omidi A. Role of mindfulness, psychological flexibility and integrative self-knowledge on psychological well-being among the university students. Feyz. 2017; 21(2):170-177
 
5. Akbari M, Najafi S, Nadrian H. The Relationship Between Social Capital Perceived Social Support and The Women's Mental Health in Sanandaj: a Community-Based Study. Iran J Health Educ Health Promot. 2017;5(3):155-163. https://doi.org/10.30699/acadpub.ijhehp.5.3.155
https://doi.org/10.30699/acadpub.ijhehp.5.3.155
 
6. Ashrafian F, sadeghi M, Rezaei F. The Effect of Integrative Positive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Infertility Stress and Hope in Infertile Women. Journal of Clinical Nursing and Midwifery. 2019; 8(3) :436-445
 
7. Bazzazian S, Raga-ei Y. The ralationship between socioeconomic status with mental and physical health. 2007; 3(11): 237-248.
 
8. Hosseini M, Neissi A, Davodi I, MehrabiZade-Honarmand M, Zargar Y. The effectiveness of holistic-oriented psychological intervention on health psychology in infertile women undergoing IVF. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2017; 9(3): 47-54.
 
9. Ghasemi R, Rajabi-Gilan N, Reshadat S, Zakiei A, Zangeneh A, Saedi S. The Relationship of Social Support and Self-Efficacy with Mental Health and Life Satisfaction. J Mazandaran Univ Med Sci. 2017; 27 (147) :228-239
 
10. Rashid Almasi B, Alipour A, Character N S. The effect of positive psychotherapy intervention on depression, stress and happiness infertile women. fpcej. 2019; 4(2):75-88. https://doi.org/10.1093/med-psych/9780195325386.003.0007
https://doi.org/10.1093/med-psych/9780195325386.003.0007
 
11. Salajegheh S, Emamipour S, Nematolah ZM. Explaining structural modeling of the relationship between self-coherence and mental well-being based on the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies in women with breast cancer. Thoughts and Behavior in Clinical Psychology. 2017; 12(46): 67-76.
 
12. Salehmirhasani V, Rafipour A, Ganje Abadi Z. The Mediating Role of Self-Knowledge and Mindful Attention in the Relationship between Emotion Regulation and Impulsivity in a Military Unit. Military Psychology, 2021; 11(43): 75-89.
 
13. Safaei M, Shokri O. Assessing stress in cancer patients: Factorial validity of the perceived stress scale in Iran. IJPN. 2014; 2(1) :13-22
 
14. Abbasi M, Gharlipour Z, Rahbar A, Arsang-Jang S, Ebraze A, Kazazlou Z. Comparison of Psychological Characteristics in Fertile and Infertile Women Referring to Health Centers and Infertility Center in Qom-2017. J Arak Uni Med Sci. 2018; 21(6) :47-55
 
15. Koraei A, Dasht Bozorgi Z, Zahery Abdh Vand S. The Effect of Coping Strategies on Coping with Infertility in Women: Mediator Role of Marital Quality. Avicenna J Nurs Midwifery Care. 2018; 26(3):191-202. https://doi.org/10.30699/sjhnmf.26.3.191
https://doi.org/10.30699/sjhnmf.26.3.191
 
16. Kianrad N, Neshatdoost H, Sarafraz M. The effectiveness of group self-regulation triple strategies training on reducing adverse physical and emotional consequences of stress. Journal of psychological science. 2019; 18(74): 193-203.
 
17. Narimani M, Eyni S. Relationship between Meaning of Life, Self- Compassion and sense of coherence with perceived stress in cancer patients. IJCA.2020;1(3):1-10. https://doi.org/10.29252/ijca.1.3.1
https://doi.org/10.29252/ijca.1.3.1
 
18. Moosavian Khorasani SH, Vagharseyyein SA, Zarei B, Shafiee F. Association of Perceived Social Support with Secondary Traumatic Stress and Perceived Stress in Nurses. SJNMP. 2019; 5(2):68-80
 
19. Nasiri F, Abdolmaleki S. Explaining the Relationship between Perceived Social Support and Quality of Life, Perceived Stress Mediator Role in Female-Headed Households in Sanandaj. Journal of Applied Sociology. 2017; 27(4): 99-116.
 
20. Hadi M, Ghorbani N, Besharat MA. The mediating role of adolescent self-knowledge processes in the relation between parenting styles and mental health. Journal of psychological science. 2019; 18(76):397-406.
 
21. Behjati Z, Saeedi Z, Noorbala F, Enjedani E, Meybodi FA. Integrative self-knowledge and mental health. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences.2011;30:705-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.137
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.137
 
22. Chehreh R, Ozgoli G, Abolmaali K, Nasiri M, Mazaheri E. Comparison of the infertility-related stress among couples and its relationship with infertility factors. Int J Women's Health Reprod Sci.2018;7(3):313-8. https://doi.org/10.15296/ijwhr.2019.52
https://doi.org/10.15296/ijwhr.2019.52
 
23. Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R. A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of health and socialbehavior.1983:385-96. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404
https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404
PMid:6668417
 
24. Ghasemipour Y, Robinson JA, Ghorbani N. Mindfulness and integrative self-knowledge: Relationships with health-related variables. International Journal of Psychology. 2013;48(6):1030-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2013.763948
https://doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2013.763948
PMid:23410242
 
25. Ghorbani N, Watson PJ, Hargis MB. Integrative Self-Knowledge Scale: Correlations and incremental validity of a cross-cultural measure developed in Iran and the United States. The Journal of Psychology. 2008;142(4):395-412. https://doi.org/10.3200/JRPL.142.4.395-412
https://doi.org/10.3200/JRPL.142.4.395-412
PMid:18792651
 
26. Ghorbani N, Watson PJ, Bing MN, Davison HK, LeBreton D. Two facets of self-knowledge: Cross-cultural development of measures in Iran and the United States. Genetic, social, and General psychology monographs. 2003;129(3):238.
 
27. Harandi TF, Taghinasab MM, Nayeri TD. The correlation of social support with mental health: A meta-analysis. Electronic physician. 2017;9(9):5212. https://doi.org/10.19082/5212
https://doi.org/10.19082/5212
PMid:29038699 PMCid:PMC5633215
 
28. Hsieh CM, Tsai BK. Effects of social support on the stress-health relationship: Gender comparison among military personnel. International Journal of Environmental research and public health. 2019;16(8):1317. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16081317
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16081317
PMid:31013723 PMCid:PMC6518057
 
29. Maroufizadeh S, Ghaheri A, Almasi-Hashiani A, Mohammadi M, Navid B, Ezabadi Z, Samani RO. The prevalence of anxiety and depression among people with infertility referring to Royan Institute in Tehran, Iran: A cross-sectional questionnaire study. Middle East Fertility Society Journal.2018;23(2):103-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mefs.2017.09.003
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mefs.2017.09.003
 
30. Muñoz-Bermejo L, Adsuar JC, Postigo-Mota S, Casado-Verdejo I, de Melo-Tavares CM, Garcia-Gordillo MÁ, Pérez-Gómez J, Carlos-Vivas J. Relationship of perceived social support with mental health in older caregivers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2020;17(11):3886. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113886
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113886
PMid:32486267 PMCid:PMC7312634
 
31. Qi M, Zhou SJ, Guo ZC, Zhang LG, Min HJ, Li XM, Chen JX. The effect of social support on mental health in Chinese adolescents during the outbreak of COVID-19. Journal of Adolescent Health.2020;67(4):514-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.07.001
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.07.001
PMid:32753347 PMCid:PMC7395830
 
32. Ringdal R, Espnes GA, Eilertsen ME, BjØrnsen HN, Moksnes UK. Social support, bullying, school-related stress and mental health in adolescence. Nordic Psychology. 2020;72(4):313-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/19012276.2019.1710240
https://doi.org/10.1080/19012276.2019.1710240
 
33. Rooney KL, Domar AD. The relationship between stress and infertility. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience. 2018;20(1):41. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2018.20.1/klrooney
https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2018.20.1/klrooney
PMid:29946210 PMCid:PMC6016043
 
34. Ghorbani N, Alipour A, Farzad V. The mediating role self-knowledge process (integrative self-knowledge and mindfulness) and self control in regulating of relationship between perceived and objective stress and anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms. 2016;10(3), 1-15.
 
35. Sarafraz MR, Hemmati S, Asadi-Lari H. The Relationship between Perfectionism and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Self-Regulation Processes as Moderator. International Journal of School Health. 2020;7(2):30-6.
 
36. Valikhani A, Kashani VO, Rahmanian M, Sattarian R, Rahmati Kankat L, Mills PJ. Examining the mediating role of perceived stress in the relationship between mindfulness and quality of life and mental health: testing the mindfulness stress buffering model. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping. 2020;33(3):311-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2020.1723006
https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2020.1723006
PMid:32026721
 
37. Yang F, Jiang Y. Heterogeneous influences of social support on physical and mental health: Evidence from China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(18):6838. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186838
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186838
PMid:32962140 PMCid:PMC7558190
 
38. Zimet GD, Dahlem NW, Zimet SG, Farley GK. The multidimensional scale of perceived social support. Journal of personality assessment. 1988;52(1):30-41. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2
https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2
 
39. Zimet GD, Powell SS, Farley GK, Werkman S, Berkoff KA. Psychometric characteristics of the multidimensional scale of perceived social support. Journal of personality assessment. 1990;55(3-4):610-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.1990.9674095
https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.1990.9674095
PMid:2280326

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics