The rising incidence of cancer has led to an increased number of adult children impacted by parental cancer. Previous research primarily focused on younger individuals, leaving a gap in understanding the experiences of adult children aged 20–35.

To examine a model that integrates the interrelationships among the disease’s characteristics (i.e., disease stage), illness representations, coping strategies, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in young adults with parents diagnosed with cancer. In addition, we examined indirect relationships involving illness representations as independent variables, coping strategies as mediators, and PTG as the outcome variable.

The rising incidence of cancer has led to an increased number of adult children impacted by parental cancer. Previous research primarily focused on younger individuals, leaving a gap in understanding the experiences of adult children aged 20–35. This study examines a model that integrates the interrelationships among the disease’s characteristics (i.e., disease stage), illness representations, coping strategies, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in young adults with parents diagnosed with cancer. In addition, we examined indirect relationships involving illness representations as independent variables, coping strategies as mediators, and PTG as the outcome variable.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 109 adult children (ages 20–35) of cancer patients. Data were collected using the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, and the COPE questionnaire. Path analysis was performed to test the study’s hypotheses.

The findings revealed that illness representations and coping strategies accounted for significant variance in PTG. Higher perceived severity of the parent’s illness was associated with greater use of problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies, which were linked to higher PTG. Lower perceived control over the illness was associated with less use of problem-focused coping and subsequently lower PTG.

This study underscores the importance of subjective perceptions and coping strategies in fostering PTG among young adults with parents diagnosed with cancer. The findings highlight the need for tailored psychosocial interventions to enhance adaptive illness representations and effective coping strategies, promoting resilience and growth in this unique demographic.

Previous studies have shown that parental attachment was associated with higher levels of posttraumatic growth (PTG) in individuals who have experienced traumatic events. The aim of the current longitudinal study is to investigate resilience as one pathway through which parental attachment is related to PTG among Chinese adolescents following the Yancheng tornado.

A total of 351 adolescent survivors participated in this longitudinal study. Participants completed the revised version of Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA-R) at 12 months (T1), and the revised Chinese version of the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-R) and the Connor and Davidson’s Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) at 18 months (T2) after the tornado, respectively.

It indicated that parental attachment at T1 has direct and positive effect on PTG at T2, and resilience at T2 fully mediated the relationship between parental attachment at T1 and PTG at T2.

The findings revealed that parental attachment and resilience are two key resources that promote adolescent’s PTG, and parental attachment acts through resilience to promote PTG in adolescents.

Although cancer is a debilitating experience, it can also increase meaning and satisfaction in one’s life.

To investigate the effectiveness of interventions that aim to develop posttraumatic growth among cancer survivors.

Seven databasis were searched for relevant articles published between 2000 and 2020. The findings of randomized controlled trials related to interventions to effect posttraumatic growth of cancer survivors were included. Hedges’ g and 95% confidence intervals were computed to estimate the effect.

The effect of the interventions on posttraumatic growth among cancer survivors were heterogeneous. The effect size was statistically significant (Tables 1,2).Table 1

Posttraumatic growth interventions significantly increased posttraumatic growth among cancer survivors. Health care providers as the main sources of cancer care should be more focused on the achievement of positive outcomes.

No significant relationships.

Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is a positive psychological change after challenging life events. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of positive and long-term psychological changes in people who experienced the Bam earthquake.

A total of 916 adolescents were surveyed 17 years after the earthquake. Self-report questionnaires were administered to participants. A latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted to extract the subgroups of adults.

The LPA identified 5 meaningfully profiles that were characterized based on the pattern of PTG dimensions. The common profile was profile, which perceived very low “relating to others” dimension and medium for other PTG dimensions. Also, the results showed significant differences among gender and age and nonsignificant differences in marital status and education level among the profiles of PTG.

For stressful situations, the different dimensions of PTG change indirectly in every person. In Bam, some patterns are seen according to PTG after 17 y. Among these dimensions, the part of “relating to others”, has the greatest change. Another conclusion is that according to a relatively high profile for 5 clusters, it seems the impact of 17 y should be less on PTG as the number of extractive patterns is approximately high for the case.

Posttraumatic growth (PTG) refers to positive psychological changes resulting from individuals’ inner struggles with traumatic events such as life-threatening illness. Although palliative care patients are confronted with their own mortality, little is known about their PTG experience. This study investigates whether PTG is an empirically relevant concept for palliative patients by assessing the prevalence and areas of growth, and examining associations with psychological distress and quality of life.

Participants were recruited in Switzerland. Using validated questionnaires, we assessed PTG (Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, PTGI), psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and quality of life (McGill-Quality of Life Questionnaire – Revised). We performed descriptive analyses, Spearman correlations, and linear regressions.

Fifty-five patients completed the PTGI, 44% of whom experienced no/low growth, 47% moderate growth, and 9% high/very high growth. Participants experienced the greatest positive changes in terms of appreciating life and relating to others. We found significant negative bivariate correlations between PTG and psychological distress (r = −0.33) and between PTG and depression (r = −0.47). Linear regressions showed that PTG is associated with depression (β = −0.468; p = 0.000), but not with anxiety or quality of life (adjusted R2 = 0.219).

Over half of our patients experienced moderate to very high growth, indicating that PTG is an empirically relevant psychological process in palliative care. PTG is associated with lower levels of depression, possibly as those experiencing growth are more able to process past traumas and build a more positive outlook on one's life and self. By contrast, the relative independence of anxiety and PTG points to the likely coexistence of positive and negative psychological responses to trauma. The lack of association between PTG and quality of life points to the uniqueness of the PTG concept in capturing how people access deeper meaning and greater appreciation of life along the path toward posttraumatic self-reconstruction.

Focusing on the negative changes experienced by both patients and caregivers associatively caregiving and experiencing chronic mental illnesses, there is an increasing interest in the phenomenon of development after traumatic experiences with high levels of stress. These changes are in line with the concept of posttraumatic growth.

In the study, posttraumatic growth and psychological resilience in bipolar patients and caregivers has been examined in the context of the variables that are claimed to be related to it.

With the approval of ethics committee, 49 patients in euthymic period and caregivers, 49 healthy volunteers meeting the inclusion criterions, applied to Erenköy Mental and Neurological Diseases Training-Research Hospital outpatient clinics between July-December 2019 were included. While psychological resilience and posttraumatic growth scale were implemented to patients and caregivers only psychological resilience scale was applied to healthy volunteers. The relationship between posttraumatic growth and psychological resilience, patient and caregiver variables was examined through statistical methods.

Comparing with the patients and caregivers, respectively posttraumatic growth total scores were 57.7%-61.3% of the highest score obtained from the scale in the patients and caregivers. Considering the literature, patients and caregivers experienced moderate to high posttraumatic growth. Caregivers’ psychological resilience levels was higher than the other groups.

The results of the study are in line with the findings that, negative life experiences positively contributes to individuals. Knowing the factors affecting posttraumatic growth can make contribution to approaching patients and caregivers in clinical practice.

To explore if there is an interaction effect between gender (men and women) and profession (nurses and physicians) in posttraumatic growth (PTG).

PTG is defined as a positive psychological change experienced as a result of struggling with highly challenging life circumstances. It may take the form of improved self-image, a deeper understanding of self, increased spirituality, and/or enhanced interpersonal relationships. Gender and profession were found separately to be associated with PTG, but to date were not examined under interaction effect.

We employed a cross-sectional study conducted in the tertiary medical center in Israel using a convenience sample. One hundred and twenty-eight nurses and seventy-eight physicians gave their consent and agreed to fill out self-report questionnaires regarding personal and professional data and PTG Inventory.

The correlation matrix revealed that being a woman was associated with higher PTG total scale (r = 0.242; P ≤ 0.001) and its subscales except for spiritual change that showed no evidence of statistical effect. Similar pattern was found for being a nurse with PTG total scale (r = 0.223; P ≤0.001) and its subscales except for relating to others that showed no evidence of statistical effect. However, the interaction effect revealed that among men, there was no difference in the level of PTG and its subscales based on profession (Physicians men = 62.54 (20.82) versus Nurses men = 60.26 (22.39); F = 9.618; P = 0.002). Among women, nurses had a significantly higher scores in PTG (Physicians women = 61.81 (18.51) versus Nurses women = 73.87 (12.36); F = 9.618; P = 0.002) and its subscales in comparison to physicians except for subscale relating to other.

Our findings suggest implications for research and practice namely exploring PTG among nurses and physicians would benefit from applying interaction effect of gender and profession. For practice, advocating PTG within the health care organization is needed to be tailored with gender and professional sensitivity.

Social media provides an opportunity to engage in social contact and to give and receive help by means of online social networks. Social support following trauma exposure, even in a virtual community, may reduce feelings of helplessness and isolation, and, therefore, reduce posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS), and increase posttraumatic growth (PTG). The current study aimed to assess whether giving and/or receiving offers of help by means of social media following large community fires predicted PTS and/or PTG.

A convenience sample of 212 adults living in communities that were affected by large-scale community fires in Israel (November 2016) completed questionnaires on giving and receiving offers of help by means of social media within 1 mo of the fire (W1), and the PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) and PTG questionnaire (PTGI-SF), 4 mo after the fire (W2).

Regression analyses showed that, after controlling for age, gender, and distance from fire, offering help by means of social media predicted higher PTG (β = 0.22; t = 3.18; P < 0.01), as did receiving offers of help by means of social media (β = 0.18; t = 2.64; P < 0.01). There were no significant associations between giving and/or receiving offers of help and PTS.

Connecting people to social media networks may help in promoting posttraumatic growth, although might not impact on posttraumatic symptoms. This is one of the first studies to highlight empirically the advantages of social media in the aftermath of trauma exposure.

Meaning and Purpose (MaP) therapy aims to enhance meaning-based coping through a life review that focuses on the value and worth of the person, key relationships, sources of fulfillment, roles, and future priorities in living life out fully. We sought to test the feasibility and acceptability of a six-session model of MaP therapy against a wait-list control cohort in a pilot study seeking effect sizes on measures of adaptation.

We randomized patients with advanced cancer to MaP therapy or wait-list control, with measures administered at baseline and after 6–8 weeks. Wait-list patients could then crossover to receive therapy, with further measures collected postintervention. Adherence to the manualized model was sustained through weekly supervision and fidelity coding of recorded sessions. We used generalized estimating equations to control for baseline and any correlation of data.

From 134 eligible participants, 57 (43%) consented, and 40 of 45 (89%) offered therapy completed 6 sessions. Key barriers to consenting patients were poor health (15 refusers and 4 withdrawals) and death intervened in 6 participants. MaP therapy generated adequate effect sizes in posttraumatic growth (new possibilities, appreciation of life, and personal strength) and life attitudes (choices and goal seeking) to permit calculation of power for a formal randomized, controlled trial.

Delivery of this model of existentially oriented therapy is feasible and acceptable to patients. A properly powered randomized controlled trial is justified to examine the efficacy of this intervention.

This article examines the associations of quantitatively refined trajectories of adjustment to cancer survivorship determined by previously published qualitative narrative analysis.

Patients completed measures of cancer-related worry (Cancer Related Worries Scale), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), posttraumatic growth (Benefit Finding Scale), and open-ended survey questions 6, 12, and 18 months postdiagnosis of head and neck, esophageal, gastric, or colorectal cancer. Previously published narrative analysis revealed five distinct survivorship “paths,” which were combined into four paths in the present article: Moving On, Seeing the World Differently, Taking One Day at a Time, and Never the Same. To determine the association of qualitatively determined paths with quantitatively assessed adjustment (i.e., Cancer Related Worries Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Benefit Finding Scale), we used linear multilevel modeling to regress the adjustment variables on time, path, the time-by-path interaction, and relevant covariates (age, stage, cancer site, ethnicity, and Deyo score).

There was a significant main effect of path on cancer worry, depression, and posttraumatic growth (p < 0.02 for all). Patients in the Moving On group reported consistently low worry, depression, and growth compared to the other groups. Patients in the Seeing the World Differently and Taking One Day at a Time paths both reported moderate worry and depression; but those in the Seeing the World Differently path reported the highest posttraumatic growth, whereas patients in the Taking One Day at a Time path reported little growth. Finally, patients in the Never the Same path reported the highest worry and depression but lowest posttraumatic growth.

This longitudinal study reinforces the notion that cancer survivorship is not a one-size-fits-all experience nor a dichotomized experience of “distress” or “no distress.” Additionally, this hypothesis-generating study suggests future directions for potential self-report measures to help clinicians identify cancer survivors’ trajectory to develop a more patient-centered survivorship care plan.

The present study sought to explore the role of meaning making and high-level construal in the relationship between meaning discrepancy and posttraumatic growth among Chinese cancer patients.

The participants were 193 individuals diagnosed with cancer. Meaning discrepancy, meaning making, high-level construal in meaning making, and posttraumatic growth were measured. Bootstrapping and structural equation modeling were performed to test the mediation effects of high-level construal on the meaning-making process.

Mediation analysis revealed that perceived discrepancies were associated with individuals' meaning-making efforts. Meaning-making efforts prompted participants to adopt a high-level construal orientation, which in turn enhanced posttraumatic growth.

Our study empirically tested construal level theory in a population suffering from severe chronic trauma. The results demonstrate the important role of high-level construal in the meaning-making process of cancer patients, suggesting a specific effective strategy to foster posttraumatic growth. It seems encouraging to indicate that adopting such high-level construal may be included as part of psychological interventions for cancer patients.

It is common for patients to experience positive and negative psychological changes (e.g., posttraumatic growth or demoralization) after being diagnosed with cancer. Although demoralization and posttraumatic growth are both related to meaning-making, little attention has been paid to the associations among these concepts. The current study investigated the relationship between demoralization, posttraumatic growth, and meaning-making (focusing on sense-making and benefit-finding during the experience of illness) in cancer patients.

Some 200 cancer patients (with lung cancer, lymphoma, or leukemia) at the MacKay Memorial Hospital in New Taipei completed the Demoralization Scale–Mandarin Version (DS–MV), the Chinese Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (CPTGI), and a self-designed questionnaire for assessing sense-making and benefit-finding.

Demoralization was negatively correlated with posttraumatic growth, sense-making, benefit-finding, and time-since-diagnosis. Multiple regression analysis showed that meaning-making had different effects on demoralization and posttraumatic growth. The interactions of sense-making with either benefit-finding or time-since-diagnosis significantly predicted demoralization. Individuals with relatively higher sense-making and benefit-finding or shorter time-since-diagnosis experienced less demoralization.

The suffering of cancer may turn on the psychological process of demoralization, posttraumatic growth, and meaning-making in patients. Cancer patients who evidenced higher posttraumatic growth experienced less demoralization. Trying to identify positive changes in the experience of cancer may be a powerful way to increase posttraumatic growth. As time goes by, patients experienced less demoralization. Facilitating sense-making can have similar effects. Cancer patients with less benefit-finding experience higher demoralization, but sense-making buffers this effect.