Abstract overview:
Research on how individuals perceive infertility and its treatment and how these perceptions relate to psychological adjustment has primarily focused on the individual level.

Aims and objectives:
However, since both partners are directly involved and affected, this study aimed to extend existing research by exploring the impact of these perceptions on emotional adaptation at the interpersonal level, in the light of the Common-Sense Model.

Method:
This cross-sectional study included infertile couples undergoing oocyte retrieval during an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle. Participants were recruited from an assisted reproduction unit in Heraklion, Greece (57 couples) and an infertility center in Athens, Greece (33 couples). They completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire, assessing factors such as timeline perceptions, perceived consequences, personal and treatment control over infertility, problem coherence, and emotional representations. The Spearman Rho test was used to examine correlations between these representations and life satisfaction among infertile men and women. Additionally, multiple linear regression models were applied to assess how one partner’s perceptions influenced the other partner’s psychological well-being.

Results:
Findings revealed significant correlations between one partner’s representations and the other partner’s life satisfaction. Specifically, men’s life satisfaction during IVF was influenced by women’s cognitive representations of infertility timeline (Β = 0.200, p = 0.009). Women’s life satisfaction was predicted by men’s perceptions of treatment control over infertility (Β = - 0.226, p = 0.033).

Conclusion:
One partner’s psychological adaptation was influenced by the other partner’s perceptions of the fertility problem. Understanding positive emotions, such as life satisfaction, is crucial for assessing the psychological well-being of infertile couples. These findings highlight the importance of developing psychological interventions based on theoretical models to support couples undergoing IVF and enhance their emotional well-being during this challenging process.