Personal resources and posttraumatic growth of parents struggling with cancer disease of their child

Introduction: Personal resources play an essential role among determinants of the posttraumatic growth. The study looks for positive posttraumatic changes occurring in parents struggling with cancer disease of their child and the role of personal resources, it is purpose in life, spirituality and perceived social support in this process.

Material and methods: Results of 47 persons (87.2% women), aged 25-51 years (M = 35.42, SD = 6.70) who were the parents of sick children, were analyzed. The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, the Purpose in Life Test, the Self-description Questionnaire and the Social Support Scale were used in the study.

Results and conclusions: In the surveyed parents, positive changes occurred as a result of struggling with cancer of the child. Nearly 45% of respondents revealed high level of posttraumatic growth. The biggest changes were observed in appreciation of life. All the analyzed resources were positively associated, although weakly, with posttraumatic growth. A special role in the occurrence of positive posttraumatic changes should be attributed to spirituality. Developing resources, in people struggling with the trauma may increase the likelihood of posttraumatic growth.