Development of a Mentalization-Based Relationship Enrichment Package and Examination of Its Effectiveness on Anxiety Sensitivity and Intolerance of Uncertainty in Infertile Couples

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a mentalization-based relationship enrichment package and to examine its effectiveness on anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty in infertile couples. The study employed an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, in-depth interviews with infertile couples and couple-therapy experts, along with a review of scientific texts, were analyzed using thematic analysis to develop a ten-session intervention package, whose content validity was confirmed using CVR and CVI indices. In the quantitative phase, a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with a control group and follow-up was conducted on 24 infertile couples who were purposively selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty questionnaires were administered. Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects of time and group, as well as significant time-by-group interaction effects for both anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty (p<0.001). Bonferroni post-hoc tests indicated significant reductions from pretest to posttest with sustained effects at follow-up in the experimental group, whereas no significant changes were observed in the control group. The mentalization-based relationship enrichment package is an effective and stable intervention for reducing anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty among infertile couples.