Effects of emotion regulation and general self-efficacy on posttraumatic growth in Chinese cancer survivors: assessing the mediating effect of positive affect.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, there have been increasing concerns about the existence of posttraumatic growth as a result of the struggle with cancer. The present study examined several potential predictors of posttraumatic growth and the mediating role of positive affect among Chinese cancer survivors.

METHODS

Two hundred thirty cancer survivors recruited from two Chinese hospitals completed self-report measures of perceived posttraumatic growth, emotion regulation, positive and negative affect, and general self-efficacy. Correlation analysis, hierarchical linear regression analysis, and Sobel test were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

Our findings revealed that perceived level of posttraumatic growth was associated with greater positive affect, more effective emotion regulation, and higher level of general self-efficacy. No significant correlation could be found between negative affect and perceived posttraumatic growth. In addition, positive affect partially mediated the effects of expressive revealing and general self-efficacy on perceived posttraumatic growth while totally mediating the relationship between expressive suppression and perceived posttraumatic growth.

CONCLUSIONS

Positive affect, expressive revealing, and general self-efficacy are important predictors of perceived posttraumatic growth among cancer survivors. Our findings also suggested that the effects of emotion regulation and general self-efficacy upon perceived posttraumatic growth may be closely related to the level of positive affect.