Skip Navigation


Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on September 4, 2008
Human Reproduction 2008 23(12):2737-2743; doi:10.1093/humrep/den326
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF )
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
23/12/2737    most recent
den326v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Akizuki, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Kai, I.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Akizuki, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Kai, I.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Infertile Japanese women's perception of positive and negative social interactions within their social networks

Yuri Akizuki1,2,4 and Ichiro Kai3

1 Faculty of Nursing, Shukutoku University, 673 Nitona, Chuo, Chiba 260-8703, Japan 2 Department of Social Gerontology, School of Health Sciences and Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan 3 Department of Social Gerontology, School of Public Health, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan

4 Correspondence address. E-mail: lily{at}soc.shukutoku.ac.jp

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine positive and negative social interactions experienced by infertile Japanese women.

METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 infertile women. The informants were asked about their experiences of positive (helpful) and negative (unhelpful) social interactions with members of their social networks, excluding their partners, with regard to their infertility.

RESULTS: Nine positive social interaction categories were clarified, including listening closely to the distress experienced in infertility and treatment, not prying or interfering with the topic of children and respecting the women's decision regarding fertility treatment and taking a wait-and-see attitude. Nine negative social interaction categories were also identified, including prying with the topic of children, showing a negative attitude toward infertility or reproductive medicine, being criticized for not having children and avoiding contact.

CONCLUSIONS: The present findings systematically and qualitatively determined the positive and negative social interactions experienced by infertile Japanese women within their social networks. This is essential knowledge for medical staff to counsel patients and their family members. To form a supportive social environment for infertile women, we recommend practical measures for health workers and helpful advice with regard to interactions between infertile women and their social networks.

Key words: infertile women/positive social interaction/negative social interaction/qualitative study/social support

Submitted on December 2, 2007; resubmitted on July 29, 2008; accepted on August 4, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
R. Lund, C.S. Sejbaek, U. Christensen, and L. Schmidt
The impact of social relations on the incidence of severe depressive symptoms among infertile women and men
Hum. Reprod., November 1, 2009; 24(11): 2810 - 2820.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.