A meta-analysis on the relationship between posttraumatic growth and resilience in people with breast cancer.
Xiao Wan, Haitao Huang, Qianwen Peng and 7 others
PMID 36484160WHAT IT FOUND
People with breast cancer who reported higher resilience also tended to report more posttraumatic growth.
The relationship was positive. This does not show that building resilience causes growth.
Key findings
01Across 17 cross-sectional surveys of 4156 people with breast cancer, resilience and posttraumatic growth had a significant positive pooled relationship (r = 0.448; 95% CI 0.370 to 0.519), with high heterogeneity (Q = 139.13; I2 = 88.5%).
02Region and publication type significantly moderated the relationship, while age, resilience measurement, and posttraumatic growth measurement did not; the correlation was highest in Eastern China (r = 0.531), smaller in Central China (r = 0.350), smallest in Northeastern China (r = 0.306), and larger in journal articles (r = 0.484) than dissertations (r = 0.265).
03Sensitivity analysis showed tiny changes, and Egger's test did not show significant publication bias (t = 1.16; p = 0.263).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
All included studies were cross-sectional surveys, so they cannot show that resilience causes posttraumatic growth or that improving resilience would increase growth. Every included study was from China, so the pooled correlation may not apply to other countries or healthcare systems. Heterogeneity was high, meaning the individual study correlations varied widely, so the pooled estimate is an average over a broad range. Only a small number of dissertations were included, and publication type moderated the result, so the pooled estimate may be influenced by publication patterns. The analysis did not test other possible moderators, such as type of surgery or time since diagnosis.
Declared interests
Funded by Henan graduate education reform and quality improvement and Henan University undergraduate teaching reform and practice key projects. The supplied text does not report author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that resilience training will increase posttraumatic growth. The study only pooled cross-sectional correlations, so it cannot show that resilience causes growth or that changing resilience changes growth.