Personal growth and psychological distress in advanced breast cancer

AIMS: The experience of posttraumatic growth following breast cancer, its association with psychological distress and the predictive value of psychological distress, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of cancer patients in their personal growth. METHODS: The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory and the Greek version of the Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale (G-HADS) were administered to 100 breast cancer patients. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were recorded. RESULTS: The analysis showed that significant associations were found between PTGI-Total patients' age (p=0.001), and being married (p=0.007). Moreover, significant negative association was observed between PTGI-II ("New Possibilities") and HADS-Depression (r=-0.314, p<0.05). Multiple regression analyses showed that age is a significant predictor of PTGI-II ("New Possibilities") (p=0.005), PTGI-V ("Appreciation of Life") (p=0.0005) and PTGI-Total (p=0.037), while marital status is a significant predictor of PTGI-Total (p=0.009). CONCLUSION: Specific patients' characteristics, such as young age and being with a partner, influence the experience of posttraumatic growth in breast cancer patients.