Post-traumatic growth and subjective well-being among breast cancer patients

Pages:401-406
Komal Chandiramani and Waheeda Khan (Department of Psychology, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi)

Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) and Subjective Well Being (SWB) play a very important role in evaluating a person’s experience as cancer patients. The present study was designed to compare and examine the relationship between PTG and SWB among stage I and stage II breast cancer patients. For this, a sample of 60 patients was taken (30 in each group) from hospitals of Delhi and was administered Post Traumatic Growth Inventory and Subjective Well Being Inventory. Group differences were evaluated using t test. Results indicated that stage II breast cancer patients were significantly higher on overall PTG and its dimensions of new possibility, appreciation to life and spiritual change. The similar trend was observed with respect to overall SWB and its dimensions i.e. well being-positive affect, transcendence, social support, perceived ill health, deficiency in social contacts, well being-negative affect. Moreover, stage II patients indicated more significant positive relations between two constructs as compared to stage I patients. It was concluded that both are important constructs in evaluating positive change in cancer patients. Future research should focus on interventions that would be beneficial for stage I and II breast cancer patients and should also incorporate qualitative aspects of the cancer diagnosis.