Trajectories and predictors of benefit finding among patients with colorectal cancer undergoing chemotherapy: A longitudinal observational study.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the longitudinal trajectories of benefit finding (BF) among patients with colorectal cancer undergoing chemotherapy and to identify predictors associated with these trajectories to inform tailored psychosocial interventions. Methods: A total of 191 patients were recruited from three tertiary hospitals in Southwest China. Baseline data were collected before chemotherapy initiation (T0) using the General Information Questionnaire, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, the Distress Disclosure Index, and the Benefit Finding Scale. BF levels were reassessed after the first (T1), third (T2), and sixth (T3) chemotherapy cycles. Growth mixture modeling was applied to identify distinct BF trajectories over time, followed by multivariate logistic regression to determine predictors of trajectory membership. Results: Among 173 patients who completed all assessments, three BF trajectories were identified: moderate-to-increasing (11.6%), low-to-increasing (63.0%), and high-to-decreasing (25.4%). Marital status, place of residence, cancer stage, stoma history, baseline illness perception, and self-disclosure were significant predictors of trajectory classification (all P ​< ​0.05). Conclusions: Patients with colorectal cancer exhibited heterogeneous patterns of benefit finding throughout chemotherapy. Marital status, residence, stoma history, illness perception, and self-disclosure emerged as key factors shaping these trajectories. Identifying distinct patient subgroups based on these characteristics may help guide personalized interventions to promote psychological adjustment during treatment.