Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan 11;21(1):27.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-020-03007-y.

Retrospective and prospective measures of post-traumatic growth reflect different processes: longitudinal evidence of greater decline than growth following a hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation

Maya Corman  1 , Marie-Thérèse Rubio  2 , Aurélie Cabrespine  3 , Isabelle Brindel  4 , Jacques-Olivier Bay  3 , Régis Peffault De La Tour  4 , Michaël Dambrun  5
Affiliations

Retrospective and prospective measures of post-traumatic growth reflect different processes: longitudinal evidence of greater decline than growth following a hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation

Maya Corman et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: This prospective longitudinal study examined and compared two measures (prospective and retrospective ones) of post-traumatic growth (PTG) following Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Transplantation (HSCT) and their respective relationships with mental health and psychological disposition. We also tested the hypothesis that unwillingness to be in contact with distressing thoughts and feelings-i.e. experiential avoidance-would moderate the relationship between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and growth.

Methods: This study was carried out with 187 patients. Patients completed the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) 5 months after HSCT and scales tapping into the five domains of PTGI during hospitalisation and 5 months after HSCT. Mental health and psychological disposition were also assessed prior to hospitalisation. A PTSD scale was administered at the five-month follow-up.

Results: Prospective and retrospective measures of PTG were weakly correlated. Bayesian pre/post-HSCT comparisons in the prospective measure of PTG revealed substantial to very strong decline in four of the five dimensions assessed. Overall, RCI indicated a reliable increase for 5.6% of patients and a reliable decrease for 40.8% of patients. Confirming that retrospective and prospective measures of PTG reflect different processes, they were not related to the same mental health and psychological disposition variables. Moreover, the hypothesis that acquiring positive outcomes from a potentially traumatic experience, such as HSCT, requires direct confrontation with the source of distress was supported in the case of the retrospective measure of growth but not in the case of the prospective measure growth.

Conclusions: Retrospective measures such as the PTGI do not appear to assess actual pre- to post-HSCT change. HSCT seems more linked to psychological decline than to growth.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03883672.

Keywords: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; Mental health; Post-traumatic growth; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Psychological disposition.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of protocol
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Allart-Vorelli P, Porro B, Baguet F, Michel A, Cousson-Gélie F. Haematological cancer and quality of life: a systematic literature review. Blood Cancer J. 2015;5(4):e305. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Linden W, Vodermaier A, MacKenzie R, Greig D. Anxiety and depression after cancer diagnosis: prevalence rates by cancer type, gender, and age. J Affect Disord. 2012;141(2–3):343–351. - PubMed
    1. Amler S, Sauerland MC, Deiters C, Büchner T, Schumacher A. Factors influencing life satisfaction in acute myeloid leukemia survivors following allogeneic stem cell transplantation: a cross-sectional study. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2015;13(1):28. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Braamse AM, Gerrits MM, van Meijel B, Visser O, van Oppen P, Boenink AD, et al. Predictors of health-related quality of life in patients treated with auto-and Allo-SCT for hematological malignancies. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2012;47(6):757–769. - PubMed
    1. Mosher CE, Redd WH, Rini CM, Burkhalter JE, DuHamel KN. Physical, psychological, and social sequelae following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a review of the literature. Psychooncology. 2009;18(2):113–127. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data