Relationships between dyadic coping, intimate relationship and post-traumatic growth in patients with breast cancer: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: To investigate the relationships and pathways between dyadic coping, intimate relationship and post-traumatic growth (PTG) in Chinese patients with breast cancer. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. METHODS: Between November 2019 and November 2020, 133 patients with breast cancer who received therapy in tertiary grade-A hospitals at Dalian, China completed questionnaires including demographic and clinical questionnaires, Locke-Wallace Marriage Adjustment Test, Chinese version of the Dyadic Coping Inventory and Chinese version of the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the pathways. RESULTS: Dyadic coping was positively interrelated with PTG and intimate relationship (r = .355, p < .01; r = .213, p < .05); intimate relationship was negatively interrelated with PTG (r = -.207, p < .05). The structural equation model demonstrated adequate fit. Dyadic coping and intimate relationship directly affected PTG (ß = .469, p < .05; ß = -.309, p < .05). Dyadic coping indirectly affected PTG through intimate relationship (ß = -.066, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Dyadic coping was a stimulus factor, but intimate relationship was an obstructive factor in enhancing PTG for the Chinese patients with breast cancer. Furthermore, intimate relationship may have significant mediating effects in the link between dyadic coping and PTG. Strategies that improve dyadic coping level and avoid excessive intimacy relationships between couples contribute to the development of PTG among patients with breast cancer. IMPACT: The research provides new ideas and intervention entry points for global nurses and psychotherapists so that they can enact and implement targeted PTG intervention plans for patients with breast cancer worldwide.

Correlation between self-awareness, communication ability and caring ability of undergraduate nursing students/A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Caring ability is the core ability of nursing. Here we explored the factors affecting the caring ability of undergraduate nursing students. Self-awareness and communication ability are potential variables to improve caring ability. OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between self-awareness, communication ability and caring ability of domestic undergraduate nursing students and to explore whether communication ability has an intermediary effect between self-awareness and caring ability. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Undergraduate nursing students (n = 1411) who attended Dalian Medical University, Liaoning, China. Participants were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling methods using online platforms. METHODS: The questionnaire used the Self-Consciousness Scale, Clinical Communication Competence Evaluation Scale and Caring Ability Inventory. The data were processed and analyzed by SPSS 24.0 and Amos 23.0. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis and structural equation modeling were performed for data analysis. RESULTS: There was a significant positive correlation between undergraduate nursing students' caring ability and their self-awareness and communication ability (p < 0.001). Communication ability played a partial mediating role between self-awareness and caring ability (p < 0.001), and the mediating effect was 34.2 %. CONCLUSIONS: The self-awareness of undergraduate nursing students directly affects their caring ability and can also indirectly affect their caring ability through their communication ability. Educators can guide and cultivate student self-awareness and communication ability and promote self-regulation, so as to improve students' caring ability and improve clinical development.