2020 Volume 25 Issue 2 Pages 103-114
This study aimed to examine the effects of source-specific negative social interactions (NSIs) and positive social interactions (PSIs) with husbands, parents, husband’s parents, and friends (and others) on depression in infertile Japanese women. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted on 300 female Japanese patients who were undergoing infertility treatment. The surveys were composed of four source-specific NSI scales (husband-NSI, parents-NSI, husband’s parents-NSI, and friends and others-NSI), four source-specific PSI scales (husband-PSI, parents-PSI, husband’s parents-PSI, and friends and others-PSI) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Multiple regression analysis was then conducted on 206 patients who responded to the questionnaire (response rate：68.7%). The results indicated that the husband-NSI, husband’s parents-NSI, and friends and others-NSI had significant positive associations with CES-D scores, but none of the PSI scales had a significant negative association with CES-D scores. Further, a significant positive interaction effect between the husband’s NSIs and the husband’s parents-NSIs on CES-D scores was seen. These findings suggest that NSIs and PSIs differ in their association with depression in infertile women. In other words, depression in infertile women was not remarkably reduced by PSIs, but was adversely affected by NSIs, especially those from the husband and husband’s parents.
