Social Support Impact and its Relation with Psychological Hardiness among a sample of Patients with Breast Cancer in Ramallah and Albireh Governate

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the impact of social support on breast cancer patients’ psychological hardiness using a sample in Ramallah and Albireh. A descriptive correlative approach was adopted to fulfill the goals of the study and a questionnaire, consists of two criteria: social support and psychological hardiness, was adopted as a tool for data collection for the study. In Order to achieve the goals of the study, the researcher elected a convenient sample that consisted of 123 female breast cancer patients in Ramallah and Albireh. This sample represented 50 % of the original patient population. The study showed that the average estimated percentage of social support and psychological hardiness for women with breast cancer, in the designated area, was elevated up to 82.4 % and 74.8 % respectively. These results revealed a positive relationship between social support and breast cancer patients’ psychological hardiness, resilience and stress management with predictability of (0.412) and the presence of statistically significant differences for social supportwith regards to age, and the social status. However, this was not observed with other factors namely: educational status, income and disease duration. Statistically significant differences for psychological hardiness were observed with variations in age, social status and disease duration but not in terms of educational status and income. Considering these results, the author recommends establishment of support programs that target women with breast cancer. Such programs would provide the patients with the required social and psychological care and spread awareness among patients so that they can cope with the stress associated with breast cancer and its associated comorbidities.