Cormio Claudia, Muzzatti Barbara, Romito Francesca, Mattioli Vittorio, Annunziata Maria Antonietta
Experimental Unit of Psycho-Oncology, National Cancer Research Centre "Giovanni Paolo II", Bari, Italy.
Unit of Oncological Psychology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico - National Cancer Institute, Aviano, PN, Italy.
Support Care Cancer. 2017 Apr;25(4):1087-1096. doi: 10.1007/s00520-016-3496-4. Epub 2016 Dec 24.
Cancer survivors often report posttraumatic growth (PTG). The aims of this study were to assess the presence of PTG in Italian long-term disease-free cancer survivors (LCS) and to explore the association between the dimensions of PTG and clinical, demographic variables, various agents of perceived social support and psychological distress.
Five hundred forty LCS were assessed with Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y (STAI-Y).
Mean age was 57.08 years, mean survival was 11.04 years (range 5-32), and the most common cancer diagnosis was breast cancer (56.9%). The PTGI average total score was higher in more educated LCS, in those employed, in LCS with longer time from diagnosis, and in those with no comorbidities. In this study, PTG was not found correlated with distress, but it correlated with perceived social support, age, education, and employment.
The absence of a correlation between PTG and psychological distress and the low levels of PTG found let us question the importance of talking about PTG when working as psychotherapists with LCS. It may be suggested that the need of finding benefit and PTG in LCS has been overcome by other experiences or worries happened after the cancer, and LCS may not focus anymore on positive changes occurred. The relevance of work and of perceived social support as linked to PTG stresses the need to protect the LCS's relationship with work and to promote and sustain their social network, and this can help them to experience sharing and closeness to others.
癌症幸存者常报告有创伤后成长（PTG）。本研究旨在评估意大利长期无病癌症幸存者（LCS）中PTG的存在情况，并探讨PTG各维度与临床、人口统计学变量、各种感知到的社会支持因素及心理困扰之间的关联。
对540名LCS使用创伤后成长量表（PTGI）、多维感知社会支持量表（MSPSS）、zung自评抑郁量表和状态-特质焦虑量表-Y（STAI-Y）进行评估。
平均年龄为57.08岁，平均生存期为11.04年（范围5 - 32年），最常见的癌症诊断为乳腺癌（56.9%）。在受教育程度较高的LCS、就业者、诊断后时间较长的LCS以及无合并症的LCS中，PTGI平均总分较高。在本研究中，未发现PTG与困扰相关，但它与感知到的社会支持、年龄、教育程度和就业情况相关。
PTG与心理困扰之间不存在相关性，且发现的PTG水平较低，这让我们质疑在与LCS进行心理治疗工作时谈论PTG的重要性。可能是癌症后发生的其他经历或担忧已经克服了在LCS中寻找益处和PTG的需求，并且LCS可能不再关注已发生的积极变化。工作和感知到的社会支持与PTG的相关性强调了保护LCS与工作的关系以及促进和维持其社交网络的必要性，这可以帮助他们体验与他人的分享和亲密感。
