TY - JOUR
T1 - Infertility
T2 - Testing a helpseeking model
AU - White, Lynn
AU - McQuillan, Julia
AU - Greil, Arthur L.
AU - Johnson, David R.
PY - 2006/2
Y1 - 2006/2
N2 - This paper uses data from a study of 196 infertile women from the Midwestern US to examine a general theory of helpseeking behavior applied to infertility. All of these women report meeting the medical definition of infertility - 12 months or more of regular intercourse without conception - at some point in their lives. Only 35 percent of this sample of infertile women identified themselves as having had fertility problems and only 40 percent had sought medical treatment. Drawing on prior theories of helpseeking, we examine the effects of symptom salience, life course cues, attitudes, predisposing factors, and enabling conditions on helpseeking. We posit a model in which a cognitive dimension (perceived infertility) mediates between these predictors and medical helpseeking. Symptom salience (experienced infertility while actively trying to get pregnant), low parity, and poor subjective health are significantly related to perceived infertility, which is, in turn, significantly associated with helpseeking for infertility. Supporting the conclusion that the cognitive dimension of identifying oneself as infertile is critical to helpseeking, the relationship of symptom salience to helpseeking is partially mediated by perceived problems. Internal health locus of control is associated with lower odds of helpseeking but not to perceived infertility.
AB - This paper uses data from a study of 196 infertile women from the Midwestern US to examine a general theory of helpseeking behavior applied to infertility. All of these women report meeting the medical definition of infertility - 12 months or more of regular intercourse without conception - at some point in their lives. Only 35 percent of this sample of infertile women identified themselves as having had fertility problems and only 40 percent had sought medical treatment. Drawing on prior theories of helpseeking, we examine the effects of symptom salience, life course cues, attitudes, predisposing factors, and enabling conditions on helpseeking. We posit a model in which a cognitive dimension (perceived infertility) mediates between these predictors and medical helpseeking. Symptom salience (experienced infertility while actively trying to get pregnant), low parity, and poor subjective health are significantly related to perceived infertility, which is, in turn, significantly associated with helpseeking for infertility. Supporting the conclusion that the cognitive dimension of identifying oneself as infertile is critical to helpseeking, the relationship of symptom salience to helpseeking is partially mediated by perceived problems. Internal health locus of control is associated with lower odds of helpseeking but not to perceived infertility.
KW - Helpseeking
KW - Infertility
KW - USA
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=30644456939&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=30644456939&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.11.012
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.11.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 16360257
AN - SCOPUS:30644456939
SN - 0277-9536
VL - 62
SP - 1031
EP - 1041
JO - Social Science and Medicine
JF - Social Science and Medicine
IS - 4
ER -