Investigation of social capital and its relationship with emotional adjustment in infertile couples: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Infertility is an abnormal event in the life of families and can have various consequences on a personal and social level. Therefore, infertile couples need to manage their emotional responses. Social capital, as one of the social determinants of health, can affect mental health. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to determine the relationship between social capital and emotional adjustment in infertile couples. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2018 to February 2019 with 170 infertile couples visiting infertility centers in Sari, Iran. The data collection instruments included the social capital integrated questionnaire, an emotional adjustment scale and a demographic-reproductive checklist. RESULTS: All the social capital dimensions, except for the groups and networks dimension, had a score of higher than 50 (more than the mean score). Based on ANCOVA and the multiple linear regression results, the dimension of trust and solidarity had a significant negative relationship with emotional adjustment (p = 0.01), but no significant relationship was observed between the other social capital dimensions and emotional adjustment. CONCLUSION: The trust and solidarity dimension had a significant relationship with emotional adjustment in infertile couples. Accordingly, increasing mutual trust between neighborhood residents can strengthen social capital, and in turn, improve emotional adjustment in infertile couples.