Is Finding Something Good in the Bad Always Good? Benefit Finding Among Women With Breast Cancer.
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The correlates and consequences of benefit finding on quality of life were examined for 364 women (93% Caucasian, 6% African American, and 1% Hispanic) diagnosed with Stage I, II, and III breast cancer. Benefit finding and quality of life were measured 4 months postdiagnosis (Tl), 3 months after Tl (T2), and 6 months after T2 (T3). Women with lower socioeconomic status, minorities, and those with more severe disease perceived more benefits at baseline. Benefit finding was associated with more negative affect at baseline and also interacted with stage of disease, such that negative relations to quality of life across time were limited to those with more severe disease. Findings suggest there are qualifiers as to whether "finding something good in the bad" is good or bad.
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Greater levels of growth may also be related to negative affect, more distress over time, and poorer quality of life.
“On the other hand, however, there is recent evidence that greater levels of growth may also be related to negative affect, more distress over time, and poorer quality of life (Tomich & Helgeson, 2004).”
From Evidence for a curvilinear relationship between posttraumatic growth and posttrauma depression and PTSD in assault survivors (2009) · cites this paper as Tomich & Helgeson, 2004
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- Authors
- Tomich, P. L., & Helgeson, V. S.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- Venue
- Health Psychology
- Published
- 2004
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 16-23
- ISSN
- 0278-6133 (ISSN-L)
- 1930-7810
- OpenAlex
- W2025204020
- Cited by
- 589
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 37 · 2014: 40 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 36
- FWCI
- 12.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Health Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- KiltHub Repository
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (1f32ca097637-01a1, 5r01ca079752-03)
- National Cancer Institute (R01 CA79752, 1 F32 CA97637-01A1)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Women's cancer prevention and management
- Keywords
- benefit finding, breast cancer, quality of life, women, negative affect, socioeconomic status, racial and ethnic minorities, disease severity, cancer diagnosis, coping
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Aged, Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols, Attitude to Health, Breast Neoplasms, Demography, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Support
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