Premium
Post‐traumatic growth in advanced cancer patients receiving palliative care
Author(s) -
Mystakidou Kyriaki,
Tsilika Eleni,
Parpa Efi,
Galanos Antonis,
Vlahos Lambros
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
british journal of health psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 2044-8287
pISSN - 1359-107X
DOI - 10.1348/135910707x246177
Subject(s) - cronbach's alpha , construct validity , clinical psychology , psychology , psychometrics , palliative care , scale (ratio) , item analysis , medicine , physics , nursing , quantum mechanics
Goals of work To develop the Greek version of the Post‐traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI‐Gr), and assess its psychometric properties in a palliative care patient sample. Patients and methods The scale was translated with the forward–backward procedure to Greek. It was administered twice, with a 3‐day interval, to 131 eligible patients with advanced cancer. Together with the PTGI, the patients also completed the Greek version of the Impact of Events Scale‐Revised scale (IES‐R‐Gr). The reliability was assessed by the internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficients), test/retest (Spearman's r value), and inter‐item correlations. Validity was demonstrated by factor analysis, inter‐scale correlations, construct validity with the IES‐R‐Gr, and combined with the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status. Main results The PTGI‐Gr yielded a five‐factor structure, explaining 73.5% of the variance. Cronbach's alphas for the five factors ranged from .66 to .87, respectively. Overall test–retest reliability was satisfactory with a range between .85 and .92 ( p <.0005), and inter‐item correlations ranged between .47 and .63. Inter‐scale correlations were found satisfactory ( p <.0005, p <.005, and p <.05). Validity as performed using combined validity analysis showed good results. Satisfactory construct validity was supported by the correlation analysis between the PTGI‐Gr and the IES‐R‐Gr scales. Conclusions PTGI‐Gr is an instrument with satisfactory psychometric properties, and is a valid research tool for the post‐traumatic growth of advanced cancer patients.