Benefit finding in adults treated for benign meningioma brain tumours: relations with psychosocial wellbeing

Introduction: Research has indicated that individuals may report benefit finding (BF) as a result of experiencing potentially life-threatening traumatic events, such as being diagnosed with cancer or sustaining an acquired brain injury (ABI). No study to date has examined the incidence and correlates of BF in adult brain tumour samples. The present study aimed to investigate the association between BF and demographic and psychosocial variables in adults treated for a benign meningioma. Method: Seventy participants aged 36 to 87 years completed questionnaires that assessed perceived BF resulting from one's meningioma experience, intrusion and avoidance symptoms, emotional wellbeing and perceived quality of social support. Results: 39% of the sample had been diagnosed with their tumour within a 2-year period prior to assessment ('early' meningioma subgroup), while the remaining 61% of participants had been diagnosed with their tumour for more than 2 years ('late' meningioma subgroup). Almost two thirds (63%) of the sample reported deriving a moderate amount of BF due to their meningioma experience; although different psychological variables were found to be associated with BF according to group status. Whereas greater BF was found to be significantly associated with elevated depressive symptoms in the 'early' subsample, elevated BF was significantly positively correlated with intrusions and avoidance symptoms in the 'late' subsample. Conclusions: The findings indicate that BF may co-occur in context of both adaptive and positive illusory processes, which is consistent with the Janus-Face model of growth following adversity. The findings also support the use of psychosocial interventions to facilitate psychosocial adjustment following health crises.