Optimism and symptoms of anxiety and depression among Chinese women with breast cancer: the serial mediating effect of perceived social support and benefit finding

OBJECTIVE: This research examines the direct and indirect relationships between optimism, perceived social support (PSS), benefit finding (BF), and anxiety and depressive symptoms among Chinese women with breast cancer (BC). METHODS: We recruited 512 patients, aged averagely 47.46(SD = 8.51) years from two hospitals located in Hunan province, China. The variables were assessed using the Optimism–Pessimism Scale (OPS), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Benefit Finding Scale (BFS), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Path analyses were conducted by Amos version 24.0 for Windows to test the hypothesized serial mediation model. RESULTS: Path analyses suggest a significant negative association between optimism and symptoms of anxiety and depression. The relationship was mediated by BF (β = -0.085, SE = 0.015, 95% CI [-0.126, -0.055]), and by BF together with PSS (β = -0.027, SE = 0.007, 95% CI [-0.047, -0.017]). The difference comparison between the two indirect effects was significant (β = 0.057, SE = 0.015, 95% CI [0.034,0.101]). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that PSS, and BF are important mediators through which optimism may buffer symptoms of anxiety and depression among Chinese BC patients. Clinicians and healthcare practitioners should be aware of the importance of patients’ emotional health and endeavor to offer emotional support, facilitate their capacity to improve their quality of life.