A study of the relationship and mediating effects of perceived stress and post-traumatic growth in patients undergoing postoperative chemotherapy for breast cancer

Objective

The traumatic experience of cancer, in addition to its negative impact on breast cancer patients, can also bring about positive change, i.e., post-traumatic growth (PTG). PTG can help boost patients’ confidence in their fight against the disease and improve their adherence to treatment, thereby facilitating their recovery. The study aimed to investigate the effect of perceived stress on the PTG of patients undergoing postoperative chemotherapy for breast cancer and to examine the roles of rumination and self-efficacy between two.

Methods

The data was collected using a cross-sectional design. From December 2021 to October 2022, a total of 306 breast cancer patients who had undergone chemotherapy following surgery and met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected from three tertiary-level A hospitals in Henan Province, China. We conducted descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and a regression analysis using PROCESS Macro Model 80 to explore the relationships among perceived stress, rumination, self-efficacy, and PTG.

Results

Perceived stress of patients undergoing postoperative chemotherapy for breast cancer had a negative predictive effect on PTG (r = −0.340, P < 0.01); Rumination and self-efficacy played a partial mediating effect between perceived stress and PTG, accounting for 45.25% of the total effect.

Conclusions

Clinical nursing staff could promote PTG by strengthening psychological assessment and timely psychological intervention for patients with high perceived stress levels, encourage patients to adopt a positive way of thinking about illness and improve their self-efficacy level, so as to improve their PTG level.