Benefit finding, posttraumatic growth and health-related quality of life in long-term cancer survivors: a prospective population-based study
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: We explored the relationship between benefit finding (BF)/posttraumatic growth (PTG) at baseline and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) at baseline and follow-up in long-term cancer survivors (LTCS; ≥5-year post-diagnosis). MATERIALS AND METHODS: HRQOL was assessed in LTCS in 2009-2011 (5- to 16-year post-diagnosis, baseline) and re-assessed in 2018/2019 (14- to 24-year post-diagnosis, follow-up). BF and PTG were measured at baseline; mean scores were dichotomized into 'none-to-low' (<3) and 'moderate-to-high' (> =3). Linear regression models and linear mixed regression models were employed to assess the association of BF/PTG with HRQOL. RESULTS: Of the 6057 baseline participants, 4373 were alive in 2019, of whom 2704 completed the follow-up questionnaire. Cross-sectionally, LTCS with none-to-low BF reported better HRQOL at baseline and at follow-up than LTCS with higher BF. Longitudinally, no difference was found between none-to-low and moderate-to-high BF on the HRQOL change from baseline to follow-up. HRQOL differences between the PTG groups were not statistically significant cross-sectionally and longitudinally, except those participants with moderate-to-high PTG reported higher role functioning and global health status/QOL. CONCLUSIONS: Cross-sectionally, BF was significantly negatively related to subscales of HRQOL, while PTG was positively correlated to role functioning and global health status/QOL. The results add further evidence that BF and PTG are two different positive psychological concepts.
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A critical distinction must be made between benefit finding and genuine PTG, which involves enduring and stable revisions of fundamental assumptions about the self and the world.
“A critical distinction must also be made between ‘benefit finding’ - a short-term coping strategy focused on positive reinterpretation – and genuine PTG, which involves enduring and stable revisions of fundamental assumptions about the self and the world [25, 35–37].”
From The coexistence and trajectories of posttraumatic growth and depreciation: a 36-month longitudinal qualitative narrative analysis (2026) · cites this paper as [36]
The Background (page not available) distinguishes benefit finding as positive evaluation of adversity from PTG as psychological change after processing a traumatic event; the Discussion also calls them related but slightly different concepts. The paper does not characterize benefit finding as necessarily short-term or PTG as an enduring, stable revision of fundamental assumptions about the self and the world. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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Zięba, M., Wiecheć, K., & Szablewska, J. (2026) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-026-04705-0
- Authors
- Liu, Z., Thong, M. S. Y., Doege, D., Koch-Gallenkamp, L., Weisser, L., Bertram, H., Eberle, A., Holleczek, B., Nennecke, A., Waldmann, A., Zeissig, S. R., Pritzkuleit, R., Brenner, H., & Arndt, V.
- Affiliations
- German Cancer Research Center (DE)
- Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
- Cancer Registry of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bochum, Germany
- Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS (DE)
- Krebsregister Saarland (DE)
- Hamburg Cancer Registry, Hamburg, Germany
- University of Lübeck (DE)
- University of Würzburg (DE)
- Cancer Registry of Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany
- Corresponding author
- Arndt, Volker
- ORCID
- Venue
- Acta Oncologica
- Published
- 2023-08-18
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1124-1131
- ISSN
- 0284-186X (ISSN-L)
- 1651-226X
- OpenAlex
- W4385968680
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 1.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Acta Oncologica (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- German Cancer Aid (108262, 70112089)
- China Scholarship Council PhD Program (201808320419)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Long-Term Effects of COVID-19
- Keywords
- benefit finding, posttraumatic growth, health-related quality of life, long-term cancer survivors, cancer survivorship, role functioning, global health status
- MeSH terms
- Cancer Survivors, Posttraumatic Growth, Psychological, Adaptation, Psychological, Humans, Neoplasms, Prospective Studies, Quality of Life, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
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