The relationship between income, motivation, and self-identity and ability to cope with IVF treatment

The purpose of this study was to examine the influences on coping with the challenges of diagnosed infertility when undertaking in vitro fertilisation treatment. Specifically, the study aimed to identify the relationship between income, motivation for conceiving, and the extent to which parenthood relates to an individual's self-identity and coping ability. The participants in this study were 43 women commencing fertility treatment at a private hospital clinic. At the commencement of each round of treatment, participants completed a questionnaire which included an Infertility Self-efficacy Scale, a Fertility Problem Inventory, and the Mental Health Index. I hypothesised that as income increases, so too will levels of coping ability. I also predicted that people with intrinsic motivation for conception would have better coping ability than those with extrinsic motivation. Finally, I hypothesised that coping ability would decrease the more an individual identifies parenthood as a component of self-identity. The results indicated a significant negative relationship between the predictors, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and identity and the criterion, coping ability. No significant relationship between income and coping ability was identified. The results of this experiment will lay the foundation for future developments into understanding a given woman's ability to cope with IVF treatment. It will have a significant practical implication, in that results identified will be able to be directly transferred into the IVF medical field to assist with early identification of at-risk patients.