Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Psychological health of women who have conceived using Assisted Reproductive 
Technology in Taiwan: Findings from a longitudinal study  
 
Version: 0 Date: 10 May 2018  
Reviewer: Eric Blyth  
Reviewer's report:  
This manuscript reports on a n empirical study of the psychological characteristics of 158 women 
who had conceived one or more children following treatment provided at a single fertility centre 
in Taipei, Taiwan. Study participants completed a web -based questionnaire at four points in  
time: during the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy and at 7 -10 weeks after birth. 
The measures utilised in the study included a number of standardised instruments generating 
quantitate data regarding the women's psychological health. I am n ot an expert on all the 
statistical methods used in this study and would recommend that this aspect of the manuscript is 
reviewed by an expert statistician.  
 
The manuscript is generally well written, applies relevant methodological approaches and makes 
appropriate reference to existing relevant research.  It makes a useful contribution to the cross -
cultural study of the psychosocial aspects of assisted reproductive technology. As such I would 
encourage its publication, although the following revisions shou ld be undertaken:  
1. Revise the title of the manuscript, which is misleading. It should refer to "Psychological 
health of women who have conceived using Assisted Reproductive Technology". This 
error is repeated in several places in the Abstract and main t ext (e.g. reference to 
"naturally conceived controls" [p. 5 line 46] should be to "controls who had conceived 
naturally") - although elsewhere in the text this error is not made.  
2. Overall, the language used in the manuscript is appropriate and use of E nglish is 
adequate. However the manuscript requires careful proof -reading to excise relatively 
minor errors, see for example page 8 lines 17 -20: where it is stated that "The inclusion 
criteria for participation were that the woman have not had any live bir ths". This should 
surely refer to previous live births? In addition the text includes frequent confusion 
between use of singular and plural in the same sentence.   
3. It is not evident that the State Anxiety Inventory, the Maternity Social Support Scale, the 
Intimate Bond Measure or the Parenting Stress Index have been validated for use among 
non-Western subjects. This merits further clarification/discussion.  
4. The authors should include a section that discusses the limitations of the study.  
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your com ments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an 
additional statist ical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I recommend additional statistical review  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in  the manuscript:  
 
Needs some language corrections before being published  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an 
organisat ion that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publication of this manuscript , either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of the 
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds or has applied for patents rela ting to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare tha t I have no competing interests  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal. I understand that my name will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if t he manuscript is accepted for publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website along with the authors' 
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative Commons 
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).  I understand that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be included as confidential comments 
to the editors, which wi ll not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal