Predictions of post-traumatic growth according to spirituality, social support and positive affection in deferent age groups with breast cancer

Cancer causes a great suffering situation which leads the psychosocial outcomes and quality of life such as anxiety and depression. The purpose of this research is prediction of PTG by spirituality, social support and positive affection in women with breast cancer. The results were presented according to different ages. Participants were 106 females with breast cancer who were hospitalized at 3 hospitals in Tehran, Iran, in a four-month period. They were selected by census then, they answered the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory, Spirituality Questionnaire, Medical Outcomes Survey social support scale, and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. The data were analyzed by Pearson correlation and stepwise regression. The results, with study of age roles, showed that in the group of 25 to 35 years old, spirituality, social support and positive affection predicted PostTraumatic Growth. But in the group of 36 to 45 years old, positive affection, social support and spirituality, and in the group of 46 to 60 years old, only positive affection predicted Post Traumatic growth. Accordingly, it is inferred that through increasing of positive affection, spirituality and social support could improve the PTG. The importance of each of these variables is dependent on the patients' age.