Social Skills and Perceived Maternal Acceptance-Rejection in Relation to Depression in Infertile Women

BACKGROUND: This study examines the relationship between infertile women’s social skills and their perception of their own mothers’ acceptance or rejection, and the role this relationship plays in predicting self-reported depression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a correlational study. 60 infertile women aged 25 to 35 years participated in a self-evaluation. A Social Skills Inventory, Parental Acceptance and Rejection Questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory were used to measure social skills, acceptance rejection and depression. Data was analyzed by SPSS software, using independent two-sample t test, logistic regression, and ANOVA. RESULTS: Findings showed that there are significant differences between depressed and not depressed infertile women in their perceptions of acceptance and rejection by their mothers. Further, women's perceptions of rejection are a more significant predictor of depression among less socially skilled infertile women than among those who are more socially skilled. Less socially skilled women did not show symptoms of depression when they experienced their mothers as accepting. In general the results of this study revealed that poorer social skills were more predictive of depression while good social skills moderate the effect of infertile women’s perceptions of their mothers' rejection. At the same time, the findings showed that infertile women's perceptions of acceptance moderated the effects of poorer social skills in predicting depression. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that the perception of mothers’ rejection and poor social skills are the key factors that make infertile women prone to depression.