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Resilience and Psychosocial Adjustment in Digestive System Cancer

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Abstract

The study aims to investigate the contributions of resilience, affective reactions and post traumatic growth (PTG) to psychosocial adjustment and behavioral changes among digestive system cancer patients in Israel. A sample of 200 participants, 57.5 % men (from the 46 to 70-year age range), 1–4 years following diagnosis, completed an inventory assessing demographic and medical information, resilience, current positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), PTG, psychosocial adjustment and retrospective report of behavioral changes following cancer treatment. Resilience, PA and NA, and PTG were related to adjustment and/or reported behavioral changes, and PA, NA and PTG mediated some of the effects of resilience on adjustment and/or reported behavioral changes. The data underline the importance of resilience, affect, and PTG in the adjustment of digestive system cancer patients. Future studies are needed to better understand the associations of resilience with psychosocial adjustment and behavioral changes. This knowledge may help improve cancer survivors’ adjustment.

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Conflict of Interest

Julia Gouzman, Miri Cohen, Hasida Ben-Zur, Einat Shacham-Shmueli, Dan Aderka, Nava Siegelmann-Danieli and Alex Beny have all declared that no conflicts of interest exist.

Informed Consent

All procedures were conducted in accordance with the standards of the Ethics Committees on Human Experimentation of Maccabi Health Services, Tel Aviv Medical Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Rambam Health Care Campus and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. The informed consent of all patients included in the study was obtained.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Services, School of Social Work, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel

    Julia Gouzman, Miri Cohen & Hasida Ben-Zur

  2. Maccabi Health Services, 21, Benyamin blvd, Netanya, Israel

    Julia Gouzman & Nava Siegelmann-Danieli

  3. Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Einat Shacham-Shmueli

  4. The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Dan Aderka

  5. Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel

    Alex Beny

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  1. Julia Gouzman
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  2. Miri Cohen
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  3. Hasida Ben-Zur
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  6. Nava Siegelmann-Danieli
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  7. Alex Beny
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Correspondence to Julia Gouzman.

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Gouzman, J., Cohen, M., Ben-Zur, H. et al. Resilience and Psychosocial Adjustment in Digestive System Cancer. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 22, 1–13 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-015-9416-9

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