The association of psychological well‑being and fertility intention in parents of children with intellectual disability: A foundation for reproductive education
نویسندگان
1 Department of Psychology and Education of Children with Special Needs, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran,
2 Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
3 Department of Social Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Nipissing University, Ontario, Canada
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doi
چکیده
INTRODUCTION: Childbearing is an important event in a couple’s life. The parents might have childrenwith disability that affected on their well‑being after the children’s birth. Well‑being considered as animportant aspect of a couple’s quality of life which may alter the future of their fertility. The presentstudy was conducted to the association of psychological well‑being and fertility intention in parentswith educable intellectually disabled children.METHODS: The study was a cross‑sectional descriptive research conducted on parents of childrenwith intellectual disability (n = 386). Parents were selected randomly of schools of exceptionaleducation and welfare. The data were collected using Ryff’s scale of psychological well‑being,demographic information, and fertility intention questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptiveand analytical tests including independent t‑test, Chi‑square test, Mann–Whitney U‑test, and Logisticregression.RESULTS: The majority of parents (83.9%) reported the negative infertility intention. Despite the meanscore of well‑being in parents without fertility intention (75.71 ± 11.67) was lower than parents withfertility intention (76.90 ± 11.27), the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The logisticregression analysis indicated that the parents’ age and number of children with intellectual disabilitywere predictors of fertility intention (P < 0.05), and their increase decreased the fertility intention.CONCLUSION: It seems that the lack of difference in psychological well‑being scores between thetwo groups of parents might be due to the equal severity of disability in children. The results alsoindicated parents’ age and the number of children correlated with fertility intention. The findings canbe used to advance counseling programs in the field of healthy reproduction for this group of parents.
