Resilience in women with breast cancer: A systematic review

Purpose: Resilience refers to a dynamic process that promotes a successful adaptation to cancer-related adversity. The aim of this systematic review was to identify the biopsychosocial factors involved in the resilience of women with breast cancer and to integrate evidence on the interventions that...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Aizpurua Perez, Ibane, Pérez Tejada, Joana
Format: article
Publication Date:2020
Country:España
Institution:Universidad del País Vasco
Repository:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/77570
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/77570
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:breast cancer survivors
breast cancer patients
resilience
interventions
Description
Summary:Purpose: Resilience refers to a dynamic process that promotes a successful adaptation to cancer-related adversity. The aim of this systematic review was to identify the biopsychosocial factors involved in the resilience of women with breast cancer and to integrate evidence on the interventions that can contribute to significantly enhancing it. Method: Three databases were searched. In all, 923 articles were identified and, of these, 39 peer-reviewed articles were included. Results: Resilience was associated with multiple clinical, sociodemographic, social, psychological and physiological variables, with psychological factors being the most important contributors to the development of resilience. Some protective factors were identified, such as social support, several dimensions of quality of life (QOL) and adaptive coping strategies. Psychological distress was the variable most frequently linked to reductions in resilience, finding a bidirectional relationship between them. Resilience-promoting interventions were found to be effective in improving participants' psychological well-being. Conclusion: Resilience is a relevant factor related with several sociodemographic, clinical, psychosocial and physiological variables in women with breast cancer. However, limitations such as the wide variability of instruments used together with the heterogeneity and small size of the samples restrict the generalizability of our conclusions.