Hardiness, social support, and posttraumatic growth among oncological patients – preliminary report

Introduction: The experience of cancer is an extremely heavy and traumatic experience for both the patient and his/her loved ones. Recent studies have shown that traumatic cancer experience can lead not only to negative but also positive effects defined as posttraumatic growth (PTG).

The aim of the study is to answer the question of what role is played by hardiness and social support according to PTG and what the relationship is between hardiness and social support for PTG.

Material and methods: The study included 41 cancer patients over 18 years old (M = 54.24, SD = 13.25), treated at the Department of Haematology and Transplantology, UCK in Gdansk and at the Department of Oncology Rehabilitation at the Regional Centre of Oncology in Gdansk. The study was conducted using the questionnaire method with the following questionnaires: Posttraumatic Growth Inventory PTGI, the Health Related Hardiness Scale – HRHS, and the Berlin Social Support Scales – BSSS.

Results and conclusions: This study indicated a positive role of social support and mental health in terms of health for posttraumatic growth among cancer patients. Social support positively correlates with the general result of posttraumatic growth. Similarly, hardiness proved to be a moderately important factor for posttraumatic growth. The results are preliminary.