Correlates of Posttraumatic Growth in Married Breast Cancer Survivors

Abstract

Abstract Breast cancer presents both danger and opportunity. Most survivors report perceptions of benefits or posttraumatic growth (PTG), in the aftermath of the struggle with breast cancer. This study identified social context variables associated with personal growth among 72 married, early-stage survivors. Bivariate analyses revealed that the more women perceived their husbands as supportive, the more they reported PTG. Likewise, women reporting contact with a breast cancer survivor who perceived benefits from the experience (PTG model) noted significantly greater PTG than women who did not have such contact. Additional analyses found that level of education and time since diagnosis were inversely related to survivors' PTG. A multiple regression analysis identified contact with a PTG model and education as best predictors of survivors' PTG. These results suggest that future research should explore the possibility that psychosocial treatment of breast cancer survivors is more effective when a model of g...