Factors associated with benefit finding and mental health of patients with cancer: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: This systematic review was performed to identify the association between benefit finding (BF) and anxiety, depression, and distress, as well as to find factors related to BF in adult cancer patients. METHODS: Five English databases and four Chinese databases were searched to identify eligible articles about BF in adult cancer patients from inception to 4 July 2021. Literature screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were carried out by two reviewers independently according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Qualitative synthesis was used to summarize the results. RESULTS: Twenty-one studies involving 9601 cancer patients were included in this study. Qualitative analysis showed that BF was negatively related to anxiety, depression, and distress. Factors associated with BF included sociodemographic factors, disease-related factors, and psychological and environmental factors. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare providers should pay attention to the summarized factors of BF and construct intervention programs based on the controllable factors to improve BF in adult cancer patients, thus promoting the recovery of patients.