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© 2024 Opsomer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Objective

Studies on resilience in advanced cancer caregiving typically focus on the interplay between resilience-promoting resources and coping strategies that may be associated with resilience. However, no studies have investigated the emergence of trajectories of resilience and distress in individuals confronted with a cancer diagnosis of a loved one.

Methods

Ideal-type analysis, a method for constructing typologies from qualitative data, was used to identify trajectories involving resilience or the lack thereof based on fifty-four interviews conducted with seventeen partners of patients recently diagnosed with advanced cancer over a period of three years.

Findings

Six trajectories could be distinguished, three of which involved resilience (rapidly adapting resilience, gradually adapting resilience, and slowly adapting resilience), while the other three trajectories (continuing distress, delayed distress, and frozen disconnection) reflected a less optimal adjustment. These different trajectories seemed to be rooted in the individual characteristics of partners, the behavior of a support network, and interactions between the two.

Conclusion

The differentiation between these trajectories in partners of patients diagnosed with cancer not only furthers research on resilience in the face of adversity, but also promises to assist healthcare professionals in optimizing support for this often-neglected group of partners of patients diagnosed with cancer.

Details

Title
Do all roads lead to Rome? An ideal-type study on trajectories of resilience in advanced cancer caregiving
Author
Opsomer, Sophie  VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; De Clercq, Luca; De Lepeleire, Jan  VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Joossens, Sofie; Luyten, Patrick; Pype, Peter; Lauwerier, Emelien
First page
e0303966
Section
Research Article
Publication year
2024
Publication date
May 2024
Publisher
Public Library of Science
e-ISSN
19326203
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3069289838
Copyright
© 2024 Opsomer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.