Is Finding Something Good in the Bad Always Good? Benefit Finding Among Women With Breast Cancer.

Abstract

The correlates and consequences of benefit finding on quality of life were examined for 364 women (93% Caucasian, 6% African American, and 1% Hispanic) diagnosed with Stage I, II, and III breast cancer. Benefit finding and quality of life were measured 4 months postdiagnosis (Tl), 3 months after Tl (T2), and 6 months after T2 (T3). Women with lower socioeconomic status, minorities, and those with more severe disease perceived more benefits at baseline. Benefit finding was associated with more negative affect at baseline and also interacted with stage of disease, such that negative relations to quality of life across time were limited to those with more severe disease. Findings suggest there are qualifiers as to whether "finding something good in the bad" is good or bad.

Finding Benefit in Breast Cancer During the Year After Diagnosis Predicts Better Adjustment 5 to 8 Years After Diagnosis.

“…Though these findings are conceptually consistent with those of some prior research on other populations (Affleck et al, 1987(Affleck et al, , 1991Davis et al, 1998;McMillen et al, 1997), they contradict findings recently reported by Tomich and Helgeson (2004) among breast cancer patients. Tomich and Helgeson found that initial benefit finding (or benefit finding in interaction with disease stage) predicted more negative affect at 3 and 9 months later, controlling for initial negative affect.…”

“…Sears, Stanton, and Danoff-Burg (2003) found no relation between initial benefit finding and distress a year later. Tomich and Helgeson (2004) found that initial benefit finding predicted elevated distress 9 months later. We report here further data on the issue: Participants in an earlier study of early-stage breast cancer patients (Spencer et al, 1999) completed a measure of benefit finding and several measures of well-being in the year postsurgery.…”

The association of benefit finding to psychosocial and health behavior adaptation among HIV+ men and women

“…Indeed, the majority of participants endorsed moderate to high levels of agreement with statements indicative of a major shift in perspective, priorities, and personal growth. Thus, consistent with findings from populations of bereaved individuals (Davis, Nolen-Hoeksema, & Larson, 1998), heart attack survivors (Affleck et al, 1987;Petrie et al, 1999), multiple-sclerosis patients (Mohr et al, 1999;Pakenham, 2005), and cancer patients Sears et al, 2003;Tomich & Helgeson, 2004), many HIV+ individuals report gains in the context of coping with a chronic, incurable illness. The tendency to perceive benefits in the context of being HIV+ was more common among African-American and female participants, relative to Caucasian and male participants.…”

Assessing the validity of self-reported stress-related growth.

“…The need for further evidence on validity often is described as a crucial area for future research (e.g., Linley & Joseph, 2004;Park, 2004;Tomich & Helgeson, 2004). Wortman (2004) recently commented that propagating the notion that most people experience growth, without further evidence for this claim, can have adverse effects on trauma survivors.…”