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Newfound compassion after prostate cancer: a psychometric evaluation of additional items in the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory

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Abstract

Purpose

The most widely used measure of posttraumatic growth (PTG) is the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). Qualitative research indicates the importance of increased compassion as a result of struggling with challenges presented by cancer and treatments. However, current PTG measures may not adequately assess compassion.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey of 514 prostate cancer survivors assessed the PTGI and Dispositional Positive Emotional Scale (DPES). Five additional PTG items were derived from previous qualitative research to assess increased compassion.

Results

After removing eight items with complex loadings, a principal components analysis with oblimin rotation revealed a six-component structure. A clear delineation was seen between components relating to compassion, new possibilities, relating to others, personal strength, appreciation of life and spiritual change. Compassion accounted for 48.9 % of variance in data, with the overall model accounting for 79.9 % of variance. Strong factorability was demonstrated through Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (0.92) and Bartlett's test of sphericity (approximate χ 2 = 5,791.85, df 153, p < 0.001). The six-component structure was validated with a confirmatory factor analysis. Strong internal consistency was evidenced through Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from 0.74 to 0.90 for subscales, and item-to-total correlations and inter-item correlations exceeded accepted thresholds of 0.50 and 0.30, respectively. Convergent validity was acceptable between the PTGI compassion subscale and DPES (r = 0.50).

Conclusions

Compassion is a highly salient PTG domain after prostate cancer. Further studies can explore this construct with more heterogeneous samples of cancer types and gender.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of Arnie Cann, Lawrence Calhoun and Richard Tedeschi in providing feedback on initial drafts of this manuscript. We would also like to thank the Brisbane Prostate Support Network, the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and Cancer Council Queensland for their assistance in this project.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no disclosures in regards to financial relationships with organisations that sponsored this research. The authors have full control of all primary data and we agree to allow the journal to review the data if requested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Building G05 2.44, Gold Coast Campus, Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, 4222, Australia

    Bronwyn A. Morris & Suzanne K. Chambers

  2. Cancer Council Queensland, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Bronwyn A. Morris & Bridget Wilson

  3. School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

    Bridget Wilson

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  1. Bronwyn A. Morris
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  2. Bridget Wilson
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Correspondence to Bronwyn A. Morris.

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Morris, B.A., Wilson, B. & Chambers, S.K. Newfound compassion after prostate cancer: a psychometric evaluation of additional items in the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Support Care Cancer 21, 3371–3378 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1903-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1903-7

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