Posttraumatic Growth in Women with Breast Cancer and Their Husbands

Abstract

In the aftermath of a severely stressful event, in addition to reporting negative changes, people also report personal growth. The degree to which reports of posttraumatic growth by 41 women who survived breast cancer could be corroborated by their husbands was examined. Because the breast cancer experience is an equally stressful event for husbands and may present an opportunity for growth, the degree to which the husbands' reports of posttraumatic growth could be corroborated by their wives also was examined. Moderate positive correlations (r=.51, p<.01 for wives and r= .49, p <.01 for husbands) provided intersubjective validation of individuals' perceptions of posttraumatic growth.

Key Words:

• Posttraumatic growth
• breast cancer
• spouses
• self-reports