The interplay of psychological distress, social support, and post-traumatic growth in a libyan cancer clinical population.

BACKGROUND

Cancer imposes significant physical, psychological, and social challenges. Psychological distress, including anxiety, depression, and somatization, is common among cancer patients, while post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and post-traumatic growth (PTG) often coexist. Resilience and social support are critical in mitigating distress and fostering PTG, yet these dynamics in Arab populations, particularly Libyan cancer patients, remain underexplored.

AIM

This study aimed to explore the relationships between resilience, social support, psychological distress, and trauma-related outcomes (PTSS and PTG) in Libyan cancer patients, examining the mediating role of social support.

METHOD

Fifty-three cancer patients (mean age 62.3 years, 66% women) from hospitals in Tripoli participated. Participants completed validated Arabic versions of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Patient Health Questionnaire, Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form, Brief Resilience Scale, and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Bladder. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyse direct and mediated relationships among variables.

RESULTS

PTSS did not correlate significantly with PTG (rs = .02). Social support positively predicted resilience (b = .44, p < .001) and PTG (b = .70, p = .004) and negatively associated with psychological distress, including somatization (b = - .53, p = .003) and anxiety (b = - .42, p < .001). SEM revealed that social support significantly mediated the relationship between resilience and PTG (estimate = .31, p = .027) and between resilience and PTSS (estimate = .58, p = .010).

CONCLUSION

Social support and resilience appear to play pivotal roles in mitigating psychological distress and fostering PTG among Libyan cancer patients. Cultural factors such as family and communal bonds may enhance these effects. Interventions aimed at bolstering social support and resilience are essential for improving psychological outcomes in this population.