The relationship between religious attitudes and infertility distress among Turkish women with infertility

Atilla R., Şahan Ö., Karakaş S., Akarsu R. H.

Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 2025 (ESCI, Scopus) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/13674676.2025.2544140
  • Journal Name: Mental Health, Religion and Culture
  • Journal Indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, ATLA Religion Database, CINAHL, Psycinfo, Religion and Philosophy Collection, Social Sciences Abstracts
  • Keywords: infertile woman, Infertility, infertility distress, religious attitude, reproduction
  • Yozgat Bozok University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This descriptive, cross-sectional, and correlational study aimed to examine the relationship between religious attitudes and infertility distress among infertile women. The study was conducted at the Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) center of a university hospital in Istanbul, Türkiye. The study sample consisted of 205 women treated for infertility problems at the ART center. The data were collected with the Participant Introduction Form (PIF), the Religious Attitude Scale (RAS), and the Infertility Distress Scale (IDS). The mean RAS score of the women was 34.64 ± 4.73, and the mean IDS score was 64.23 ± 8.82. It was determined that infertile women with high RAS had a higher mean IDS score, and this difference was statistically significant. A significant positive correlation was found between the IDS total score and the RAS total and subscale scores. Turkish women with infertility showed high levels of religious attitudes and infertility distress, and these variables were positively associated.