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Data in Brief 33 (2020) 106 46 8
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Data in Brief
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/dib
Dataset on posttraumatic growth in women
survived breast cancer
Anna G. Faustova
Ryazan Sta te Medical University, Russia
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 2 June 2020
Revised 23 October 2020
Accepted 23 October 2020
Available online 27 October 2020
Keywo rds:
Breast cancer
remission
posttraumatic stress
posttraumatic growth
purpose in life
Russia
a b s t r a c t
Posttraumatic growth is a set of positive psychological
changes that happened to a person after he/she has been ex-
posed to psychological trauma. Cancer diagnosis and treat-
ment could cause severe psychological trauma. Wom en diag-
nosed with breast cancer have to deal with not only physical
outcomes but also with psychosocial ones. After a complete
remission is confirmed, some of them develop new mean-
ing and purpose in life, change a job, improve relationships,
etc. In this study, we assessed the characteristics of post-
traumatic growth in 30 women (mean age –55 years) with
breast cancer in complete remission. We used the Posttrau-
matic Growth Inventory, the Purpose-In-Life Test, and the
Impact of Event Scale-Revised. In this article, the raw data,
summed subscale scores, descriptive statistics, and results of
the correlational analysis are presented. The dataset may be
used for making cross-cultural comparisons and for a further
in-depth examination of positive experience in cancer sur-
vivors.
©2020 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc.
This is an open access article under the CC BY license
( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
E-mail address: a.faustova@rzgmu.ru
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2020.106468
2352-3409/© 2020 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
2 A.G. Faustova / Data in Brief 33 (2020) 106468
Specifications Tabl e
Subject Psychology
Specific subject area Clinical and Health Psychology, Psychotraumatology
Type of data Tabl es
How data were
acquired
Self-report base d scales and inventories were administered to the
participants.
Data format Raw Summed subscale scores Analyzed
Parameters for data
collection
Wome n diagnosed with breast cancer took part in this research
project six months after complete remission is confirmed. All the
participants signed the Informed Consent Form.
Description of data
collection
The researcher examined the participants individually. Before
administering the standardized tests, the researcher asked women a
few questio ns about their experience upon the diagnosis. After the
conversation, women filled out the Posttraumatic
Growth Inventory,
the Purpose-In-Life Test , and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised. Data
were collected hardcopy.
Data source location Institutions: Ryazan State Medical University, Ryazan Region Clinical
Oncology Center. City: Ryazan. Country: Russian Federation .
Data accessibility Raw (per-item) data are uploaded to Mendeley Data. Direct URLs to
data: http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/5f4rfjjh3d.1
http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/vry9nmtg8g.1
http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/bs7283bg9m.1 Summed subscale scores
and analyzed data are available with the article.
Value of the Data
• Being diagnosed with any type of cancer and undergoing cancer treatment are very stress-
ful events. However, surviving cancer may have some positive psychological outcomes called
“posttraumatic growth” [1–3] . Body image disturbances, losing the sense of femininity, anxi-
ety, depression, and poor quality of life are the most studied psychological aspects of having
breast cancer in women [4–6] .
• Focusing on positive psychological outcomes of fighting cancer may benefit both doctors and
patients to establish more trustful relationships. Further use of the data to reveal psycholog-
ical mechanisms of successful coping may help to promote optimism and hope in women
who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer.
• The data are of considerable practical importance since it may be used for making some
cross-cultural comparisons. Despite the relatively small sample size, the data generally reflect
the main characteristics of female citizens of Central Russia.
• Cancer researchers may consider the dataset as an initial pack for a further in-depth exam-
ination of what people experience upon the cancer diagnosis and treatment. They also may
use the data for making comparisons with samples consisted of patients with other types of
cancer.
• Clinical psychologists and specialists in cancer rehabilitation may find this dataset useful for
developing evidence-based programs of psychosocial support for those who are finishing can-
cer treatment.
1. Data Description
Table 1 contains social, demographic, and medical data about the participants. For each par-
ticipant, her code, age at the time of diagnosis, age at the time of examination, educational
level, employment status, and marital status are shown. The column “Details of diagnosis” in-
cludes the precise localization of a tumor (left/right breast) as well as the stage of malignancy
in accordance with the TNM classification. The data for each participant are timestamped.
A.G. Faustova / Data in Brief 33 (2020) 106468 3
Tabl e 1
Social, demographic, and medical data.
Participant’s
code
Age at the
time of
diagnosis
Age at the
time of ex-
amination Time stamp
Educational
level
Employment
status
Marital
status
Details of
diagnosis
1 57 60 7 Oct 2019 Post-
secondary
Employed Widowed T2N1M0,
right breast
2 60 62 7 Oct 2019 Bachelor Retired Married T2N0M0,
right breast
3 46 49 11 Oct 2019 Master Employed Married T2N1M0,
left breast
4 49 51 11 Oct 2019 Master Employed Serious re-
lationships
T2N1M0,
left breast
5 45 47 11 Oct 2019 Bachelor Employed Divorced T2N0M0,
left breast
6 49 51 14 Oct 2019 Bachelor Employed Married T1N0M0,
left breast
7 45 47 18 Oct 2019 Master Self-
employed
Married T1N1M0,
right breast
8 49 52 18 Oct 2019 Master Self-
employed
Married T2N0M0,
left breast
9 50 52 21 Oct 2019 Master Currently
unem-
ployed
Widowed T2N0M0,
right breast
10 54 57 21 Oct 2019 Post-
secondary
Employed Divorced T2N0M0,
left breast
11 53 56 25 Oct
2019
Master Employed Married T1N0M0,
right breast
12 65 68 25 Oct
2019
Master Retired Married T2N0M0,
left breast
13 64 66 25 Oct
2019
Bachelor Retired Married T2N0M0,
left breast
14 37 41 28 Oct
2019
Master Employed Serious re-
lationships
T2N1M0,
left breast
15 51 54 28 Oct
2019
Master Employed Married T2N0M0,
left breast
16 43 45 1 Nov 2019 Master Employed Married T1N0M0,
right breast
17 36 39 1 Nov 2019 Master Employed Married T2N0M0,
right breast
18 55 57 1 Nov 2019 Bachelor Currently
unem-
ployed
Divorced T2N0M0,
left breast
19 52 54 8 Nov 2019 Master Self-
employed
Serious re-
lationships
T1N0M0,
left breast
20 58 61 8 Nov 2019 Bachelor Retired Married T2N1M0,
left breast
21 58 60 11 Nov
2019
Master Employed Widowed T2N0M0,
right breast
22 59 62 11 Nov
2019
Post-
secondary
Retired Married T2N1M0,
right breast
23 60 62 11 Nov
2019
Master Employed Married T2N0M0,
left breast
24 55 59 15 Nov
2019
Bachelor Employed Divorced T2N1M0,
left
breast
25 67 69 15 Nov
2019
Bachelor Retired Widowed T2N0M0,
right breast
26 70 73 18 Nov
2019
Post-
secondary
Retired Widowed T2N1M0,
left breast
27 59 61 22 Nov
2019
Master Employed Married T2N0M0,
left breast
28 49 53 22 Nov
2019
Master Employed Married T2N0M0,
right breast
29 47 50 25 Nov
2019
Master Employed Married T1N0M0,
left breast
30 55 57 25 Nov
2019
Bachelor Currently
unem-
ployed
Widowed T2N1M0,
left breast
4 A.G. Faustova / Data in Brief 33 (2020) 106468
Tabl e 2
Summed subscale scores obtained using the posttraumatic growth inventory.
Participant’s
code
Subcales of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory
Relatin g to
others
New
Possibilities
Personal
Strength
Spiritual
Change
Appreciation
of life
1 12 15 12 4 8
2 16 4 14 7 7
3 22 11 9 9 10
4 21 17 13 4 6
5 8 15 8 6 8
6 19 15 16 6 7
7 28 18 7 3 6
8 17 9 12 4 6
9 23 16 10 6 7
10 9 11 7 7 13
11 28 19 16 6 14
12 15 11 8 4 7
13 21 6 9 3 6
14 23 21 19 9 15
15 26 15 12 8 10
16 15 10 5 4 9
17 17 13 9 8 12
18 31 20 17 10 15
19 2 1 0 0 0
20 34 23 19 10 14
21 16 0 0 0 2
22 15 8 12 9 13
23 13 8 7 6 12
24 15 10 13 9 14
25 11 0 7 1 6
26 14 3 4 0 5
27 24 14 15 9 12
28 25 19 18 7 14
29 29 19 19 8 15
30 20 14 12 2 12
Table 2 contains the summed subscale scores collected by administering the Posttraumatic
Growth Inventory (a copy of the questionnaire in English is provided as a supplementary file).
For each participant, her code and individual results are represented. The raw data (the actual
item scores) were uploaded to Mendeley Data [7] .
Table 3 includes the summed scores collected by administering both the Purpose-In-Life Test
and the Impact of Event Scale (copies of these questionnaires in English are provided as supple-
mentary files). For each participant, her code and obtained results are provided. The raw data
(the actual item scores) were uploaded to Mendeley Data [ 8 , 9 ].
Table 4 includes the analyzed data obtained after calculating both measures of central ten-
dency (Mean) and measures of variability (Dispersion, Standard Deviation). Many variables in
this dataset are either binomial or count, which means they are not distributed normally in the
population. Moreover, recent research suggests that posttraumatic growth is typically negatively
skewed [10] . Thus, if data are utilized in multivariate analysis, users should pay close attention
to the assumptions, such as the normal distribution of the data.
Table 5 contains the analyzed data obtained by calculating Pearson correlations. There are
significant negative correlations between the measure of purpose in life and intrusion (-0.458,
p < 0.05), avoidance (-0.502, p < 0.01), and hyperarousal (-0.604, p < 0.01). One possible limitation
here is that these associations may be overestimated due to the small size of the sample. There
are no significant correlations between the parameters of posttraumatic growth and the sub-
scales of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised.
A.G. Faustova / Data in Brief 33 (2020) 106468 5
Tabl e 3
Summed subscale/scale scores obtained using the purpose-in-life test and the impact of event scale-revised.
Participant’s
code
Purpose-in-life
test
Subscales of the impact of event scale-revised
Intrusion Avoidance Hyperarousal
1 72 8 22 17
2 99 17 19 11
3 93 19 16 21
4 103 19 24 13
5 80 17 18 17
6 81 11 16 11
7 109 18 20 23
8 102 15 18 15
9 86 18 17 17
10 87 14 22 13
11 11 0 5 1 3
12 70 32 32 23
13 112 9 12 4
14 126 13 9 4
15 98 16 16 11
16 113 9 9 0
17 117 3 14 1
18 12 3 15 26 1
19 14 0 3 0 1
20 122 4 3 2
21 114 6 21 4
22 107 19 23 14
23 103 27 17 17
24 106 25 20 23
25 96 10 6 6
26 76 4 5 0
27 80 32 21 24
28 115 8 7 1
29 129 6 1 3
30 112 10 9 5
Tabl e 4
Descriptive statistics of the data.
Test /In ven tory Scale Mean Dispersion Standard Deviation
Age Age at the time of diagnosis 53.233 66.667 8.165
Age at the time of examination 55.833 64.971 8.060
Purpose-In-Life
Test
Purpose-in-Life 102 .70 0 318.010 17.832
Impact of Event
Scale
Intrusion 13. 733 64.891 8.055
Avoidance 14.8 00 66.993 8.184
Hyperarousal 10.166 66.674 8.128
Posttraumatic
Growth
Inventory
Relatin g to Others 18.9 66 59.964 7.3 46
New Possibilities 12.166 40.557 6.368
Personal Strength 10.96 6 27.136 5.209
Spiritual Change 5.633 9.481 3.079
Appreciation of Life 9.500 16. 534 4.066
2. Experimental Design, Materials, and Methods
Participants. The sample consisted of 30 Caucasian women (aged from 39 to 73, with a mean
age of 55 years) with breast cancer who achieved a complete remission. They did not have any
other types of cancer as comorbid. All women underwent a mastectomy and from 10 to 40
courses of chemotherapy. They did not take any psychotropic medications (not during cancer
treatment, nor after the treatment is completed). They are comparable in socio-demographic
characteristics such as marital and family status, educational level, and employment status.
6 A.G. Faustova / Data in Brief 33 (2020) 106468
Tabl e 5
Results of the correlational analysis.
Purpose-in-Life Intrusion Avoidance Hyperarousal
Purpose-in-Life 1.0 0 0 −0.458
∗−0.502
∗∗
−0.604
∗∗
Relatin g to others 0.277 −0.031 −0.117 −0.124
New Possibilities 0.118 0.033 −0.017 0.031
Personal Strength 0.140 0.061 −0.085 −0.042
Spiritual Change 0.090 0.312 0.174 0.192
Appreciation of Life 0.210 0.117 −0.073 −0.058
∗Significant correlations (p < 0.05)
∗∗ Significant correlations (p < 0.01)
Their socioeconomic status may be characterized as middle-income. The social, demographic,
and medical data are provided in detail in Table 1 .
Experimental Design. The sample is described as a single cohort based on the time of re-
mission onset. All the participants were approached one by one when they came for a routine
check to the outpatient department of the Ryazan Region Clinical Oncology Center. Each partici-
pant signed the Informed Consent Form. Before administering the standardized tests, all women
answered a few open-ended questions about their experience upon the diagnosis. The purpose
of these questions was to get participants involved in the research project and to develop the
motivation to participate further. After a brief conversation, the participants filled out three stan-
dardized measures. Data were collected hardcopy.
Standardised measures.
1. Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. This inventory was developed by R.G. Te deschi and L.G.
Calhoun (1996) [1] . The Russian adaptation was made by M.Sh. Magomed-Eminov (2004). It
consists of 21 items and includes the following subscales: Relating to others, New Possibilities,
Personal Strength, Spiritual Change, and Appreciation of Life. Each statement should be rated on
a 6-point Likert scale where (0) –no changes happened; (1) –a very small degree of changes;
(2) –a small degree; (3) –a moderate degree; (4) –a great degree; (5) –a very great degree of
changes.
2. Impact of Event Scale-Revised. This revised version of the Impact of Event Scale (by M.
Horowitz, N. Wilner, and W. Alvarez, 1979) was created by D.S. Weiss and C.R. Marmar (1996)
[11] . The Russian adaptation was made by N.V. Tarabrina (2001). It includes 22 items summa-
rized into three subscales, such as Intrusion, Avoid ance, and Hyperarousal. All statements are
rated using a 5-point scale where (0) –not at all; (1) –a little bit; (2) – moderately; (3) –quite
a bit; (4) – extremely.
3. Purpose-In-Life Test. This test was developed by J.C. Crumbaugh and L.T. Maholick (1976)
[12] . The Russian adaptation was made by D.A. Leontiev (1988). It consists of 20 statements that
should be rated using a 7-point Likert scale.
Microsoft Excel was used to calculate descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations.
Ethics Statement
The School of Clinical Psychology at the Ryazan State Medical University (Ryazan, Russia)
provided us with the ethical approval for this research project. All the participants gave informed
consent for participating in the research project.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The author declare that she has no known competing financial interests or personal relation-
ships which have, or could be perceived to have, influenced the work reported in this article.
A.G. Faustova / Data in Brief 33 (2020) 106468 7
Acknowledgements
The author wants to thank Liza Diskaeva for helping to obtain some empirical data. This is
a pilot study of the research project МК-1199.2020.6 supported by the Grant of the President
of the Russian Federation for governmental support for young Russian scientists – candidates of
sciences (Ph.D.).
Supplementary Materials
Supplementary material associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at
doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.106468 .
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