Associations of posttraumatic growth and social support with caregiver burden in informal caregivers of women with gynecologic cancer

This study aimed to examine the associations of posttraumatic growth and perceived social support with caregiver burden and to identify demographic and clinical factors associated with caregiver burden among informal caregivers of women with gynecological cancer. A cross-sectional design was employed. A total of 154 informal caregivers of gynecological cancer patients were recruited from a tertiary hospital in Ankara, Türkiye. Data were collected using the Caregiver Burden Scale, Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Statistical analyses included independent t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical linear regression. Higher caregiver burden was significantly associated with being female, unmarried, lacking caregiving support, providing longer daily care, and caring for patients with advanced-stage disease, metastasis, or combined treatment modalities (p < 0.05). Caregiver burden showed significant negative correlations with posttraumatic growth (r = −0.505, p = 0.001) and perceived social support (r = −0.638, p = 0.001). In the final regression model, caregiving support (β = 0.277, p = 0.001), daily caregiving time (β = 0.144, p = 0.015), posttraumatic growth (β = −0.143, p = 0.045), and perceived social support (β = −0.376, p = 0.001) were independently associated with caregiver burden, explaining 60% of the variance. Higher posttraumatic growth and perceived social support were associated with lower caregiver burden in the gynecologic oncology caregiving context. These findings suggest that psychosocial assessment and caregiver support planning may benefit from greater attention to psychological growth, perceived social support, and caregiving-related demands.