Examining the Levels of Distress Tolerance and Intolerance of Uncertainty for Women Receiving Infertility Treatment

Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry & Psychology Vol.7 Issue.2

Doi:10.35365/ctjpp.25.2.03

RESEARCH ARTICLE / ARAŞTIRMA YAZISI

Examining the Levels of Distress Tolerance and Intolerance of Uncertainty for Women Receiving Infertility Treatment

İnfertilite Tedavisi Gören Kadınların Sıkıntıyı Tolere Etme ile Belirsizliğe Tahammülsüzlük Düzeylerinin İncelenmesi

Gülden Öztürk Serter¹, Seher Balcı Çelik²

Abstract:

During infertility treatment, prospective mothers are often confronted with negative experiences such as stress, distress, anxiety, depression, and uncertainty. It is believed that the ability to tolerate distress and endure the uncertainties caused by treatment plays a crucial role in achieving successful outcomes. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the levels of intolerance of uncertainty and distress tolerance in women undergoing infertility treatment. This is a cross-sectional, comparative study conducted through purposive sampling. A total of 287 women receiving infertility treatment participated in the study. The Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale and the Distress Tolerance Scale were used in data collection. The results of the study revealed that as age increases, the level of intolerance of uncertainty increases (p<0,001). Additionally, a significant difference was found between the women’s level of education and their distress tolerance levels (p<0,05). The research also identified a low but statistically significant positive correlation between the Regulation subdimension of Distress Tolerance and the Prospective Anxiety subdimension of Intolerance of Uncertainty (p<0.05). Since infertility is a difficult, exhausting, stressful, and uncertain treatment process, couples and especially women experience a heightened sense of “uncertainty.” Consequently, it can be concluded that as women age and are unable to experience motherhood, their intolerance toward the uncertain process increases with each treatment attempt.

Keywords: Infertility; Distress tolerance; Intolerance of uncertainty; In vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.

¹Asst. Prof., Ondokuz Mayıs University, Faculty of Health Science, Department of Child Development, Samsun, Türkiye, E-mail:[email protected], Orcid Id: 0000-0001-7066-9197

²Prof. Ondokuz Mayıs University, Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Sciences, Samsun, Türkiye, E-mail:[email protected], Orcid Id: 0000-0001-9506-6528

Address of Correpondence/Yazışma Adresi: Gülden Öztürk Serter, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Faculty of Health Science, Kurupelit Campus, 55200, Atakum, Samsun, Türkiye, E-mail: [email protected]

Date of Received/Geliş Tarihi: 30.11.2024, Date of Revision/Düzeltme Tarihi: 25.05.2025, Date of Acceptance/Kabul Tarihi: 26.05.2025, Date of Online Publication/Çevirimiçi Yayın Tarihi: 05.06.2025

Citing/Referans Gösterimi: Öztürk Serter, G., & Balcı Çelik, S. (2025). Examining the Levels of Distress Tolerance and Intolerance of Uncertainty for Women Receiving Infertility Treatment. Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry & Psychology, 7(2), 132-140.

© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Cyprus Mental Health Institute / Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry and Psychology (www.ktppdergisi.com). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/