Posttraumatic Growth and Related Factors among Postoperative Breast Cancer Patients

Breast cancer is the most common cancer type among women which is a highly-challenging and traumatic situation for women which threatens some psychological aspects such as femininity, motherhood and sexuality and therefore differs from other cancer types. Recently, rather than focusing on negative consequences of breast cancer after diagnosis and treatment, researchers focus on possible positive consequences after experiencing a trauma which refers to posttraumatic growth. The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between social support, dispositional hope, internal-external locus of control and posttraumatic growth among postoperative breast cancer patients. The study was conducted with 31 postoperative breast cancer women (mean age = 50.48, SD = 11.59) who were undergoing postoperative treatment. Participants were from different cities in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. “Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI)”, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support “(MSPSS)”, “The Hope Scale (HS)” and “Rotter's Internal-External of Control Scale (IELCS)” were administered to test the hypothesis of the study. Posttraumatic growth was found to be positively related with social and dispositional hope. Besides, the results did not reveal any significant relationship between posttraumatic growth and locus of control. Understanding the contributing factors to the development of posttraumatic growth among breast cancer patients is an important issue in the posttreatment process of breast cancer to improve psychological health of women with breast cancer.