Post-traumatic growth and cancer-related communication among adolescents having mothers with breast cancer.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of post-traumatic growth (PTG) among adolescents having mothers diagnosed with breast cancer and the relationship between PTG and cancer-related communication with breast cancer survivors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using anonymous self-report questionnaires with breast cancer survivors and adolescent children. PTG in adolescents was measured using the Japanese version of the revised PTG Inventory for Children (PTGI-C-R-J). Furthermore, hierarchical multiple regression analysis was implemented. To evaluate the impact of cancer-related communication on each subscale, the total score of cancer-related communication was switched with other subscales individually within the constructed model. RESULTS: A total of 97 breast cancer survivors and their adolescent children were included. The mean scores of the total PTGI-C-R-J and subscale scores for "personal strength," "new possibilities," "relating to others," "appreciation of life," and "spiritual change" were 9.0, 1.7, 1.8, 2.3, 2.4, and 0.9, respectively. The connection between PTG and cancer-related communication was partially clarified. The PTGI-C-R-J score was higher when adolescents shared more information regarding breast cancer with their mothers and lower when adolescents expressed more negative feelings toward their mothers. Communication regarding relationships with mothers was not correlated with PTG. CONCLUSIONS: Of all PTG domains, "relating to others" and "appreciation of life" were comparatively higher in adolescents. Health professionals should support breast cancer survivors to ensure that they convey appropriate information regarding their treatment plans and side effects to their adolescent children. Health professionals should help adolescent children express their negative feelings calmly and clearly.

Reliability and Validity of the Japanese Version of the Short Form of the Expanded Version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-X-SF-J): A Cross-Sectional Study.

A Japanese version of the short form of the expanded Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-X-SF-J) was developed in this study, as the extended version captures broader, more diverse personal growth perspectives, such as existential spiritual growth. We collected cross-sectional data from 408 (first sample) and 284 (second sample) Japanese university students using the expanded version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-X-J). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed with the first sample and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with the second; reliability and validity were examined. The short-form version resulting from the EFA and CFA comprised 10 items and five factors. Cronbach's alpha for the PTGI-X-SF-J total and subscale scores ranged from 0.671 to 0.875. The intraclass correlation coefficient for the total and subscale scores between the PTGI-X-J and PTGI-X-SF-J ranged from 0.699 to 0.821. Regarding external validity, no significant correlation was found between posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress disorder checklists. Due to its brevity, the PTGI-X-SF-J can help assess diverse spiritual and existential personal growth experiences among clients, patients, and trauma survivors while reducing physical and psychological burdens.

Anxiety and related factors among parents of patients with breast cancer after surgery in Japan: A multi-informant and multilevel study.

AIM: Anxiety and its correlates in parents of patients with breast cancer have rarely been studied. We explored anxiety among parents of postoperative patients with breast cancer and its relationship with parents' social support and care needs and patients' anxiety. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey using self-report questionnaires and medical records was conducted among patients with breast cancer after surgery and their parents at four designated cancer care hospitals between September 2015 and June 2016. Anxiety was measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Parents provided information about social support and care needs. Multilevel analysis was performed on patient-parent paired data controlling for patient-level variation. RESULTS: Participants included 107 patients, 83 mothers, and 51 fathers. The mean HADS anxiety scores reported by mothers and fathers were 7.2 and 6.5, respectively, which were higher than patients' HADS anxiety scores. Fulfillment of important care needs was related to lower anxiety among mothers and fathers (estimate = -1.38, p = .01). Lower family support and higher patient anxiety were associated with higher anxiety in mothers, but not fathers. CONCLUSIONS: Parents of patients with breast cancer had high anxiety. Communication, providing cancer-related information, and fulfilling care needs can alleviate anxiety in parents of patients with breast cancer after surgery. Furthermore, increasing family support and decreasing patients' anxiety are essential to alleviating mothers' anxiety.

Influence of perceived trauma on the cognitive processing model of posttraumatic growth among university students.

This study examined whether perceiving an event as a trauma influenced a cognitive processing model explaining posttraumatic growth (PTG). A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted with 311 university students from eight universities in Japan. The participants provided information about the most stressful event they had experienced and completed the expanded version of the PTG Inventory, Core Belief Inventory, Event Related Rumination Inventory, and Cognitive and Emotional Processing from Disclosure Inventory. A multi-group structural equation modeling was conducted by dividing the participants into two groups depending on whether they identified the most stressful event as a trauma. The model with no constraint showed a good fit. The model with partial constraint showed a better fit than the models with no constraint or full constraint. The difference of the model was seen as a covariance between the Event Related Rumination Inventory and the Cognitive and Emotional Processing from Disclosure Inventory. The results demonstrated configural invariance and partial metric invariance. This indicated that PTG would be recognized irrespective of whether the event was perceived as a trauma. This study also indicated that different factors out of the model could be associated with the ruminative process and disclosure process. The importance of focusing on the process of PTG, regardless of an individual's perception of the event, was emphasized, especially for factors related to rumination and disclosure.