Table 1.
Characteristics and outcomes of psychosocial interventions for patients undergoing IVF treatment
| Reference, country | Participants (N) | Intervention name (category) | Timing | Number of sessions Duration of each session Duration of intervention |
Format | Delivery person | Measurement points | Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention | Control | Anxiety | Depression | Stress | Pregnancy rate | Other psychological outcomes | |||||||
| Gorayeb et al. [24] Brazil | 93 C | 95 C | Brief cognitive behavior intervention (CBT) | Before cycle | 5 2 h 5 weeks |
Group/couple Face to face |
Psychologist | Post-test (the end of the cycle) | – | – | – | (↑): d = 0.43 | – |
| Mosalanejad et al. [25] Iran |
15 F | 16 F | Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) | Before cycle | 15 1.5 h 4 months |
Group/female Face to face |
Psychologist | Pre-test (referring to the ART clinic), Post-test (4 months later) |
(↓): d = 0.95, within group | (↓): d = 1.64, within group | (↓): d = 1.92, within group | — | Hardiness (↑): d = 4.99 |
| Tarabusi et al. [26] Italy | 28 C | 28 C | Cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) | Before cycle | 12 1 hour 4 months |
Group/couple Face to face |
Psychologist | Pre-test (being scheduled for IVF/ICSI), Post-test (4 months later) |
(−) | (−) | – | – | Psychological uneasiness of female (↓): d = 0.260, within group |
| Chan et al. [27] Hong Kong |
69 F | 115 F | Eastern body-mind-spirit (MBI) | Before cycle | 4 3 h 4 weeks |
Group/female Face to face |
Practitioner | Pre-test (referring to the ART center), Post-test (the day of the start of ovarian stimulations), Follow-up (the day of ET, 1 month later) |
(↓): state anxietya
(−): trait anxiety |
– | – | (−) | Importance of childbearing (self) (↓)a
Importance of childbearing (marriage) (−) |
| Chan et al. [28] Hong Kong |
172 F | 167 F | Integrative body-mind-spirit (MBI) | Before cycle | 4 3 h 4 weeks |
Group/female Face to face | Practitioner | Pre-test (referring to the ART center), Post-test (the day of the start of ovarian stimulations), Follow-up (the day of ET, 1 month after the post-test) |
(↓): state anxiety, Post-test: d = 0.59; follow-up: d = 0.46; (↓):trait anxiety, Post-test: d = 0.29; follow-up: d = 0.29 |
— | — | (−) | Marital satisfaction: post-test (−); follow-up (↑): d = 0.29 Importance of childbearing (↓): post-test: d = 0.41; follow-up: d = 0.59 Negative affect: post-test (−); follow-up (↓): d = 0.35 Positive affect: post-test (−); follow-up(↑): d = 0.20 |
| Domar et al. [29] USA |
46 F | 51 F | Mind/body intervention (MBI) | During cycle | 10 2 h 10 weeks |
Group/female Face to face |
Practitioner | Post-test (the end of each cycle) | – | – | – | (↑): d = 0.82, | – |
| Connolly et al. [30] UK |
37 C | 45 C | Counseling | During cycle | 3 1 h 3 weeks |
Dyadic couple Face to face |
Counselor | Pre-test (first visit to the clinic), beginning of the treatment cycle, Post-test (at the end of the treatment cycle) |
(−) | (−) | (−) | General psychological state (−) Self-esteem (−) Mood state (−) |
|
| de Klerk et al. [31] The Netherlands |
21 C | 19 C | Counseling | During cycle | 3 1 h 4 weeks |
Dyadic couple Face to face |
Social worker | Pre-test (1 week before the down-regulation or the first day of the pituitary down-regulation), Post-test (2 weeks after the pregnancy test), distress was measured daily during treatment |
(−) | (−) | – | – | Distress (−) |
| Emery et al. [32] Switzerland | 100 C | 100 C | Counseling | Before cycle | 1 1–1.5 h 1 day |
Dyadic couple Face to face |
Counselor | Pre-test (before the start of IVF), Post-test (6 weeks after ET) |
(−) | (−) | – | – | – |
| Zyl et al. [33] South Africa |
25 F | 27 F | Counseling | During cycle | 2 Unclear 5–10 days |
Individual/female Face to face |
Embryologist | Pre-test (days 4–9 of the menstrual cycle), Post-test (after oocyte aspiration) |
(↓): d = 0.34, within group | (−) | – | – | Use of problem-focused coping strategies (↑): d = 0.35, within group |
| Lancastle et al. [34] UK |
28 F | 27 F | Positive reappraisal coping intervention (coping therapy) | During 2-week waiting period | 28 1 min 14 days |
Individual/female; Self-adminis-tered |
Patient herself | Pre-test (the day of embryo transfer), Post-test (the day of the pregnancy test) |
– | – | – | – | Dispositional optimism (↑): Helpfulness: d = 0.69 Suitability: d = 0.71 Confidence: d = 0.66 Enduring effects: d = 0.71 Feeling positive: d = 0.83 Future plans: d = 0.73 Sustained coping: d = 0.70 |
| Ockhuijsen et al. [35] The Netherlands | 127 F | 126 F 124 F |
Positive reappraisal coping intervention (coping therapy) | During 2-week waiting period | 28 1 min 14 days |
Individual/female; Self-adminis-tered |
Patient herself | Pre-test (before the waiting period), Post-test (on day 10 of the 14-day waiting period), Follow-up (6 weeks after the start of the waiting period) |
(−) | (−) | – | (−) | Daily negative emotions (−) Positive emotions (↑)b: (group by time interaction: F(1, 2652) = 16.15) |
| Catoire et al. [36] France |
50 F | 43 F | Hypnosis (others) | During embryo transfer | 1 20–30 min 20–30 min |
Individual/female; Face to face |
Hypnotist | Pre-test (before the embryo transfer), Post-test (after ET) |
(−) | – | – | (−) | – |
| Tuil et al. [37] The Netherlands |
51 F | 40 F | Internet-based record (others) | During cycle | Infinite Infinite The period of a cycle |
Dyadic couple; via Internet |
Couple themselves | Pre-test (before cycle), Post-test (the end of the cycle) |
– | – | – | (−) | Patient empowerment (−) |
| Lee et al. [38] Taiwan |
64 F | 68 F | Nursing Crisis Intervention Program (others) | During cycle | 2 videos and 3–6 phone counseling Video: 30–40 min; counseling: unclear The period of a cycle |
Individual/female; via video and phone | Counselor | Pre-test (the initial stage of treatment-day 3), Middle (at the stage of the embryo transfer), Post-test (before the pregnancy test) |
(−) | (−) | – | – | Psychological responses (−) Coping strategies (−) |
| Matthiesen et al. [39] Denmark | 42 (F + M) |
40 (F + M) |
Expressive writing intervention (others) | 2 weeks after the start of the cycle | 3 20 min 3 days |
Individual/ female or male; self-administered |
Patient themselves | Pre-test (at treatment enrollment), Post-test (3 weeks later), follow-up (6 weeks after the intervention) |
– | – | (↓): d = 0.46, within group | – | – |
| Murphy et al. [40] USA | 90 F | 91 F | Harp therapy (others) | During embryo transfer | 1 20 min 20 min |
Individual/female; face to face | Music practitioner | Pre-test (before the embryo transfer), Post-test (after ET) |
(↓): state anxiety, d = 0.457 (−): trait anxiety |
– | – | (−) | – |
| Panagopoulou et al. [41] Greece |
50 F | 50 F 48 F |
Written emotional disclosure (others) | During 2-week waiting period | 7 20 min 1 week |
Individual/female; self-administered | Patient herself | Pre-test (2 h after ET), Post-test (2 days prior to the pregnancy test) |
(−) | – | (−) | (−) Non-participants group (+) |
Positive and negative affect (−) Infertility-related concerns (−) |
| Skiadas et al. [42] USA | 66 F | 65 F | Emotional support-phone call (others) | During 2-week waiting period | 2 5–15 min 2 weeks |
Individual/female; via phone | Social workers | Pre-test (the day of ET), Post-test (10 days after ET) |
– | – | (−) | – | – |
| Zhu et al. [43] China |
50 F | 50 F | Group psycho-therapy (Others) | During cycle | 6 1.5–2 h 3 weeks |
Group/female; face to face | Psycho-therapist | Pre-test (the initial stage of treatment days 3–4), Post-test (the end of the intervention) | (↓): d = 0.46 | (−) | – | (−) | – |
C couple, F female, M male, CBT cognitive behavioral therapy, MBI mind-body intervention
aNo standard deviation provided
bNo mean and standard deviation provided