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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry

Sec. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Rehabilitation

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1604787

Patterns and predictors of posttraumatic growth and fear of disease progression in breast cancer patients: a latent profile analysis

Provisionally accepted
  • Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Purpose: The primary aim of this study is to explore distinct patterns of post-traumatic growth (PTG) and fear of cancer progression (FOP) among breast cancer patients through latent profile analysis (LPA). Additionally, we assessed the differences in demographic and disease-related factors among breast cancer patients with varying patterns. Finally, we examined the influence of socio-demographic, disease-related, social support, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) factors on the varying patterns, aiming to assist healthcare providers in developing more effective psychological care strategies for breast cancer patients. Method: A questionnaire survey was conducted on 752 breast cancer patients. Latent profile analysis was employed to explore the patterns of post-traumatic growth and fear of cancer progression in these patients, and multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify the predictive factors for the different patterns. In addition, marital status, place of residence, education level, disease stage, SRSS, anxiety, and PTSD levels are influencing factors for the PTG and FOP patterns in breast cancer patients. Results: Based on the fit indices of latent class analysis, a three-class model was identified as the optimal solution, which included the Resisting group, Struggling group, and Growth group. In the Resisting group (24.33%), patients reported low levels of post-traumatic growth and high levels of fear of cancer progression; in the Struggling group (46.14%), patients exhibited moderate levels of post-traumatic growth and low levels of fear of cancer progression; in the Growth group (29.52%), patients demonstrated high levels of post-traumatic growth and moderate levels of fear of cancer progression. Additionally, the multiple logistic regression analysis reveals that marital status, place of residence, education level, disease stage, social support, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder levels in breast cancer patients serve as significant factors influencing the distinct patterns of post-traumatic growth and fear of progression. Conclusions: This study suggests that there is heterogeneity in the PTG and FOP patterns in breast cancer patients. It provides a research basis for promoting the psychological recovery of breast cancer patients. Healthcare providers can implement targeted nursing interventions based on the different patterns observed in breast cancer patients.

Keywords: Breast cancer patients, Post-traumatic growth, fear of disease progression, latent profile analysis, Positive Psychology

Received: 02 Apr 2025; Accepted: 02 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Guo, Li, Du, Cheng, Wang, Zhou and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Jing Zhang, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China

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