Zhongguo quanke yixue (Jun 2023)
Potential Effect of Walking on Emotional Health among Breast Cancer Survivors: the Mediating Effects of Different Dimensions of Posttraumatic Growth
Abstract
Background Breast cancer has become the most prevalent cancer worldwide, which leads to both physical symptom burden and psychological distress among patients. Although available literature has demonstrated the effect of physical activity in improving psychological health among breast cancer survivors, the underlying psychosocial mechanism is relatively understudied. Objective To investigate the association of walking with positive and negative affect among breast cancer patients, and examine the potential mediating effects of different dimensions of posttraumatic growth between them. Methods From April to July, 2019, 256 breast cancer patients receiving community-based management were recruited using convenience sampling from Shanghai Pengpuxincun Community Health Center to attend a household survey. Two hundred and thirty-five of them who completed the survey were included as final participants (achieving a response rate of 91.8%) . Levels of walking were measured using International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Long Form (IPAQ-long) , posttraumatic growth was assessed using Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form (PTGI-SF) , emotional health was assessed using the 20-item Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) . Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the parallel mediating effects of different dimensions of posttraumatic growth between walking and positive and negative affect. Results The result of intermediary effect analysis show that, walking was associated with greater positive affect through facilitating the personal strength dimension of posttraumatic growth among breast cancer patients, with an indirect effect of 0.07〔95%CI (0.02, 0.13) 〕. Moreover, walking was associated with lower level of negative affect through facilitating the appreciation for life dimension of posttraumatic growth, with an effect size of -0.13〔95%CI (-0.21, -0.05) 〕. The result of the intermediary model show that, the level of walking activity promoted positive emotions (β=0.34, P<0.01) by promoting the personal strength dimension of post-traumatic growth (β=0.21, P<0.01) . In addition, walking activity decreased negative mood (β=-0.37, P<0.01) by promoting the life appreciation dimension of post-traumatic growth (β=0.35, P<0.01) . Conclusion Posttraumatic growth plays an important role as a mediator between walking and emotional health in breast cancer patients. In view of this, physicians from community health centers, the institutions responsible for long-term health management of cancer patients, should value walking as a potential intervention for improving psychological health of breast cancer patients in the future community health management. In addition, it is recommended to use both physical activity and psychological interventions to improve posttraumatic growth, in order to further enhance the intervention efficacy.
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