The Mediating Role of Self-esteem between Spousal Support and Infertility-related Stress among Infertile Couples: Actor Effects and Partner Effects

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine actor and partner effects among infertile couples in determining whether self-esteem affects the degree of infertility-related stress via perceived spousal support. The sample comprised 219 couples who experienced infertility, each of whom completed an online survey. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics, t-test, correlation analysis and APIM (Actor-Partner Interdependence Model) were performed using SPSS 25.0 and Mplus 7.3 program. The main results were as follows. First, the actor effect of spousal support on self-esteem was significant in both husbands and wives. Second, the actor effects of spousal support on infertility-related stress and self-esteem on infertility stress were significant only in husbands. Third, in the association between husbands’ and wives’ spousal support and infertility-related stress, three mediating pathways via husband’s self-esteem were found to be significant. Based on these results, the necessity for a couple-level analysis in infertility research, psycho-emotional interventions for infertile couples, and implications for follow-up studies were discussed.