Dyadic Goal Appraisal During Treatment for Infertility: How Do Different Perspectives Relate to Partners' Adjustment?

Additional analyses were conducted to assess for group differences between women with children (n = 14) and women without children (n = 23), as well as group differences between men with children (n = 13) and men without children (n = 24). Women with and without children did not differ on age, years of education, minority status, depressive symptoms, infertility-specific thought intrusion, goal importance, perceived goal blockage, or perceived chance of becoming pregnant. On average, women with children were married longer (t[33] = 2.16; p < 0.05) and reporter higher positive states of mind (t[35] = 3.12, p < .01) than women without children. Men with children did not differ from men without children on any of the demographic variables, psychological adjustment variables, or goal appraisal variables. The absence of differences on variables between groups with and without children runs counter to some previous studies; however, ability to detect group differences was limited by sample size.