Effectivness of Cognitive-behavioral Therapy on Depression in Infertile Women

Infertility is an individual and social problem that affects people’s life quality and has been addressed in several scientific fields. Nevertheless, the psychosocial needs of infertile couples during the medical treatment process are discussed to a lesser degree. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy on depression in infertile women referring to the infertility clinic of Birjand University of Medical Sciences.

This quasi-experimental study with a equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was conducted to evaluate the effects of a CBT for 50 women with infertility. The sample consisted of infertile women referring to the university clinic in 2019. The subjects were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Beck Depression Inventory was used for data collection. The cognitive-behavioral intervention was conducted during 10 sessions. Data were analyzed in SPSS -19 using statistical tests such as t-test and repeated measures ANOVA.

In this study, the mean age of women in the experimental group was 28±4.1 years and 28.04±3.64 years in the control group. There was a significant difference between experimental and control groups in the mean score of depression (P <0.05). Also, the results of the post hoc test showed the stable effect of cognitive-behavioral training on reducing depression in infertile women after the intervention and in the follow-up period.

Given the positive impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on reducing depression in infertile women, it is suggested that the psychological needs of couples be considered in the medical treatment process.