SHARED DECISION MAKING AND REGRET PLAYS CRITICAL ROLES OF POSTTRAUMATIC GROWTH: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY

Purpose:

The diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer can be a traumatic experience with long-lasting psychological effects. Despite the growing literature on coping strategies related variables predict posttraumatic growth (PTG), yet little is known about PTG may be predicted by patient’s medical seeking behavior such as Shared Decision Making (SDM) and Regret (REG). The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effects of SDM and REG underlying the relationship between Impact Event Stress Response (IESR) and PTG.

Method:

This study adopts a longitudinal design with 63 individuals newly diagnosed with cervical cancer; all of patients were assessed at baseline (T0) and 6 (T1) and 12 (T2) months’ follow-up. All participants completed the IESR, SDM, REG and PTG questionnaires, respectively. The PTG (T2) index was used as an outcome measure. The mediation models and mediating hypotheses were tested by applying hierarchical multiple regression analyses.

Result:

A bivariate correlation analysis showed that there was a correlation between IESR, SDM, REG and PTG. The mediation analysis revealed that REG completely mediated the negative effects of IESR on PTG. Moreover, the positive SDM mediate partially the relationship between IESR and PTG. Further analyses indicated that the higher SDM group reported higher PTG and more use of positive reframing than the others.

Conclusion:

Recently the importance of PTG, a phenomenon of positive psychological growth beyond baseline values, has been discovered in the field of oncology. We examined factors that were related to PTG, and the meditative relationship between traumatic experience and PTG. These findings support the proposition that different combinations of both SDM and REG are necessary to best manage these survivors. Overall, it is important for clinicians to consider the notion that more SDM or less REG may sometimes, but not always, be better. Discussion highlights the need to examine nonlinear as well as linear relationships.