Newfound compassion after prostate cancer: A psychometric evaluation of additional items in the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory
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Author(s)
Morris, Bronwyn A
Wilson, Bridget
Chambers, Suzanne K
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2013
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Purpose The most widely used measure of posttraumatic growth (PTG) is the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). Qualitative research indicates the importance of increased compassion as a result of struggling with challenges presented by cancer and treatments. However, current PTG measures may not adequately assess compassion. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 514 prostate cancer survivors assessed the PTGI and Dispositional Positive Emotional Scale (DPES). Five additional PTG items were derived from previous qualitative research to assess increased compassion. Results After removing eight items with complex loadings, a ...
View more >Purpose The most widely used measure of posttraumatic growth (PTG) is the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). Qualitative research indicates the importance of increased compassion as a result of struggling with challenges presented by cancer and treatments. However, current PTG measures may not adequately assess compassion. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 514 prostate cancer survivors assessed the PTGI and Dispositional Positive Emotional Scale (DPES). Five additional PTG items were derived from previous qualitative research to assess increased compassion. Results After removing eight items with complex loadings, a principal components analysis with oblimin rotation revealed a six-component structure. A clear delineation was seen between components relating to compassion, new possibilities, relating to others, personal strength, appreciation of life and spiritual change. Compassion accounted for 48.9 % of variance in data, with the overall model accounting for 79.9 % of variance. Strong factorability was demonstrated through Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (0.92) and Bartlett's test of sphericity (approximate ? 2?=?5,791.85, df 153, p?<?0.001). The six-component structure was validated with a confirmatory factor analysis. Strong internal consistency was evidenced through Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from 0.74 to 0.90 for subscales, and item-to-total correlations and inter-item correlations exceeded accepted thresholds of 0.50 and 0.30, respectively. Convergent validity was acceptable between the PTGI compassion subscale and DPES (r?=?0.50). Conclusions Compassion is a highly salient PTG domain after prostate cancer. Further studies can explore this construct with more heterogeneous samples of cancer types and gender.
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View more >Purpose The most widely used measure of posttraumatic growth (PTG) is the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). Qualitative research indicates the importance of increased compassion as a result of struggling with challenges presented by cancer and treatments. However, current PTG measures may not adequately assess compassion. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 514 prostate cancer survivors assessed the PTGI and Dispositional Positive Emotional Scale (DPES). Five additional PTG items were derived from previous qualitative research to assess increased compassion. Results After removing eight items with complex loadings, a principal components analysis with oblimin rotation revealed a six-component structure. A clear delineation was seen between components relating to compassion, new possibilities, relating to others, personal strength, appreciation of life and spiritual change. Compassion accounted for 48.9 % of variance in data, with the overall model accounting for 79.9 % of variance. Strong factorability was demonstrated through Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (0.92) and Bartlett's test of sphericity (approximate ? 2?=?5,791.85, df 153, p?<?0.001). The six-component structure was validated with a confirmatory factor analysis. Strong internal consistency was evidenced through Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from 0.74 to 0.90 for subscales, and item-to-total correlations and inter-item correlations exceeded accepted thresholds of 0.50 and 0.30, respectively. Convergent validity was acceptable between the PTGI compassion subscale and DPES (r?=?0.50). Conclusions Compassion is a highly salient PTG domain after prostate cancer. Further studies can explore this construct with more heterogeneous samples of cancer types and gender.
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Journal Title
Supportive Care in Cancer
Volume
21
Issue
12
Copyright Statement
© 2013 Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. This is an electronic version of an article published in Supportive Care in Cancer, December 2013, Volume 21, Issue 12, pp 3371-3378. Supportive Care in Cancer is available online at: http://link.springer.com/ with the open URL of your article.
Subject
Biomedical and clinical sciences
Psychology
Other psychology not elsewhere classified