Psychological Resilience and Cognitive Flexibility Levels of Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Background Numerous cancer patients experience a range of obstacles and problems during their healing and therapy processes. Cognitive flexibility and psychological resilience are key ideas when assessing the psychological health of cancer patients during this process. The cognitive flexibility and psychological resilience of breast cancer patients, nevertheless, have not received sufficient focus. Moreover, there is still an inadequate amount of data about the association between receiving a breast cancer diagnosis and psychological resilience and cognitive flexibility.

Aims To investigate the psychological resilience and cognitive flexibility of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer compared to those who have not.

Methods A cross-sectional study that was descriptive and correlational was carried out. The study included a total of 157 female respondents without a breast cancer diagnosis and 143 female respondents with a breast cancer diagnosis.

Results The analysis's findings indicate that the psychological resilience averages of the participants who were diagnosed with both breast cancer and a psychiatric diagnosis (X = 108.88, SD = 20.66) were lower than those of the participants who were only diagnosed with breast cancer (X = 120.90, SD = 16, 63). The results of the t-test analysis reveal that there is a significant difference in the average psychological resilience between those in the breast cancer diagnostic group who have a psychiatric diagnosis and those who do not (t = -3.18, p <.01).

Conclusions The findings of this study reveal a significant disparity in psychological resilience among breast cancer patients based on the presence of a psychiatric diagnosis. Specifically, participants with both breast cancer and a psychiatric diagnosis exhibit lower psychological resilience compared to those solely diagnosed with breast cancer.