“Stronger than You Think:” Examining Post-Traumatic Growth, Quality of Life and Social Support for English-Speaking Latina Women Recently Diagnosed with Cancer

Date of Award

8-2023

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D.

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Alyssa Oland

Second Advisor

Carrie Landin

Third Advisor

Nanet M. Lopez-Cordova

Keywords

Cancer, Latina women, Post-traumatic growth, English-speaking population

Abstract

Objective: This study seeks to collect descriptive data on post-traumatic growth, social support and quality of life for English-speaking Latina women recently diagnosed with cancer to inform future research and recommendations for health care providers on ways to leverage strength and resiliency factors of Latina women.

Methods: Eighty-eight English-speaking Latina women recently diagnosed with cancer were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk). After confirming eligibility criteria, all eighty-eight women completed a demographic questionnaire, the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS), and Medical Outcomes Study Quality of Life Short Form (MOS SF-36) to examine post-traumatic growth, social support, and quality of life in this specific study population.

Results: Data collected suggests a normative strength in reported social support for this study population. Using Pearson’s correlation coefficients, correlation analyses found the following statistically significant relationships: reported post-traumatic growth and overall reported social support (strong, positive), overall reported social support and reported emotional wellbeing (moderate, positive), overall reported social support and social functioning (moderate, inverse), and overall reported social support and role limitations due to emotional problems (moderate, positive).

Recommendations: Based on the data collected, future research directions and clinical recommendations are given including the following clinical recommendations: 1). Assessment of social support by healthcare providers. 2). Discussion of the importance of social support throughout cancer journey. 3) Assessment of functional impairment. 4). Use of culturally informed interventions.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.

Extent

36 pgs

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