Investigating PTG in Cancer Patients: The Role of Time Dimension in the Experience of Personal Growth

Chiara Fioretti, Viola Vinciarelli, David Faggi, Lucia Caligiani, Francesca Tessitore, Gianluca Castelnuovo and Mauro Cozzolino
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Chiara Fioretti: Department of Human, Philosophical and Educational Sciences (DISUFF), University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Viola Vinciarelli: Psycho-Oncology Unit, USL Toscana Centro, Via Antella, 58, 50012 Bagno a Ripoli, Italy
David Faggi: Psycho-Oncology Unit, USL Toscana Centro, Via Antella, 58, 50012 Bagno a Ripoli, Italy
Lucia Caligiani: Psycho-Oncology Unit, USL Toscana Centro, Via Antella, 58, 50012 Bagno a Ripoli, Italy
Francesca Tessitore: Department of Human, Philosophical and Educational Sciences (DISUFF), University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Gianluca Castelnuovo: Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, 20123 Milano, Italy
Mauro Cozzolino: Department of Human, Philosophical and Educational Sciences (DISUFF), University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-12

Abstract: This study explored the experience of growth related to being a cancer patient by implementing a thematic analysis. An online questionnaire was completed by 69 patients narrating their growth experience related to cancer. Collected narratives were analyzed by running a deductive thematic analysis, starting from the five domains of the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and searching for the presence or absence of topics. Descriptive statistics and correlational analysis were performed. The five factors of the PTGI were identified in the narratives. The thematic analysis we performed defined a further theme that we labeled the “time dimension”, which saturated 37.7% of the entire sample. The presences of four sub-themes related to the “time dimension” were also found: “tracing a new temporal rhythm”, “the value of deserved time”, “facing the caducity of life” and “a view on the future”. Each sub-theme significantly correlated with the theme of the “time dimension”. This emergent theme does not correlate in our results with other domains of personal growth in cancer previously described in the scientific literature, emerging as an independent variable not significantly associated with other domains of post-traumatic growth. Our results suggest further investigation in the role of the time dimension in the practical and emotional experience of growth with regard to cancer.

Keywords: post-traumatic growth; cancer; time dimension; illness experience; narratives (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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