Comparison of Resilience, Positive/Negative Affect, and Psychological Vulnerability Between Iranian Infertile and Fertile Men

OBJECTIVE To compare resilience, positive/negative effect, and psychological vulnerability between fertile and infertile men. METHODS The research sample consisted of 40 fertile and 40 infertile men who were selected among men who presented to an infertility clinic. To collect data, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Positive/Negative Affect Schedule, and Brief Symptoms Inventory were used. RESULTS The MANOVA results showed that infertile men had higher mean (SD) score for negative affect (46.15±8.31 vs. 23.10±8.50) and psychological vulnerability (37.90±12.39 vs. 23.30±6.40) than fertile men (P= 0.001); while infertile men had lower resilience (59.35±14.25 vs. 82.17±13.03) and positive affect (43.01±10.46 vs. 61.85±8.14) than fertile men (P= 0.001).The results of multiple regressions showed that resilience and negative affect had the highest significant contribution in prediction of psychological vulnerability in the infertile. CONCLUSION Resilience and negative effects are the best predicators for mental vulnerability of infertile men. These factors may be addressed in future studies in infertile men. DECLARATION OF INTEREST None.