Posttraumatic Growth in Patients with Malignant Bone Tumor: Relationships with Psychological Adjustment

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

1 Department of Orthopaedics, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.

2 Department of Pheumology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.

3 Research Department, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.

4 Hu Cancer Hospital, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, China.

5 Department of Orthopaedics, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.

6 Department of Orthopaedics, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.

7 Department of Orthopaedics, Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China.

8 The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China.

Abstract

Aim: Owing to the inadequate data to support the valid instrument for assessing the positive changes among patients
with malignant bone tumor, the present study was designed to provide such valid evidence through examining the
psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-C) among these patients,
and to evaluate the effects of posttraumatic growth on positive and negative symptoms in malignant bone tumor patients.
Methods: Potential patients with malignant bone tumor from five tertiary hospitals were admitted to the hospital during
the period from January 2013 to October 2017. At the baseline assessment (T1), all patients completed a demographic
form, PTGI-C, and Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). After 4 weeks later (T2), all the patients finished
PANAS and PTGI-C again, and the PTGI-C was re-administered to patients who were simple randomly selected from
the total sample. Results: The PTGI-C exhibited moderate reliability and validity. The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the
total scale was 0.91. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the five-factor model and the convergent validity results
obtained were distinct but correlated. The multiple linear regression analyses showed that posttraumatic growth had
a significant prediction on positive affect (F=16.445, p<0.001), accounting for 69.4 % of the variance and as well as
the negative affect (F=8.707, p<0.001), accounting for 48.3 % of the variance. Personal strength at T1 was positively
associated with positive affect at T2, and more personal strength and spiritual change at T1 were associated with less
negative affect at T2. Conclusions: PTGI-C has demonstrated sufficient psychometric properties which indicate that
it is appropriate to measure posttraumatic growth in patients with malignant bone tumor. Relating to others, spiritual
growth, personal strength and appreciate to life are important factors which contribute to predicting positive affect
and negative affect.

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