Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jul 31, 2025
Date Accepted: Aug 6, 2026
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
The Effectiveness of Digital Intervention on Psychological Resilience in Postoperative Breast Cancer Patients during Chemotherapy Intervals: A Quasi-Experimental Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Background:
Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy in women, and patients in the postoperative chemotherapy period often experience mental health morbidity. Whereas existing digital interventions overcome temporal and spatial constraints, they fail to adequately cater for the characteristic limitations of this population, such as upper limb mobility. To address this issue, we designed an online mindfulness programme specifically tailored to these characteristics.
Objective:
Objective:
This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of digital interventions on psychological resilience in postoperative breast cancer patients during chemotherapy intervals.
Methods:
Methods:
A quasi-experimental study was performed with repeated measures at baseline, 3 months post-intervention and 6 months post-intervention. A total of 80 eligible participants were recruited from the breast surgery department of a tertiary hospital in Zhejiang Province from October 2021 to June 2022. The control group received routine discharge instructions and nursing follow-up, while the intervention group additionally underwent an 8-week digital psychological resilience intervention. Independent samples t-tests, chi-square tests, and repeated-measures ANOVA were employed to compare differences between groups at different time points.
Results:
Results:
No statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups at baseline (T0). Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed that at 3 months post-intervention (T1), significant differences were found in CD-RISC scores (67.58 ± 11.41 vs. 62.09 ± 10.18, P = .036) and BCSSS scores (42.36 ± 3.59 vs. 39.23 ± 4.90, P = .003), with the intervention group scoring significantly higher than the control group. However, these differences were no longer significant at 6 months post-intervention (T2) (P > .05). Significant time effects and interaction effects were observed for both resilience and self-efficacy (P < .05). For anxiety and depression, significant differences were found at both T1 and T2 (P < .05), with the intervention group consistently exhibiting lower HADS scores than the control group (T1: 11.78 ± 1.48 vs. 15.86 ± 1.54, P < .001; T2: 9.69 ± 1.51 vs. 12.03 ± 1.42, P < .001). Repeated-measures ANOVA indicated significant time effects, group effects, and interaction effects for anxiety and depression (P < .05). No significant differences were observed in SSRS or FACT-B scores at T1 or T2 (P> .05). However, significant time effects were found for both SSRS and FACT-B (P < .05).
Conclusions:
Conclusion: The digital intervention demonstrated efficacy in alleviating anxiety and depression while enhancing psychological resilience and self-efficacy among postoperative breast cancer patients during chemotherapy intervals. These findings suggest that digitally delivered psychological support may serve as a convenient and effective strategy for improving the psychological well-being of breast cancer patients recovering at home. Clinical Trial: Trial registration: This study was prospectively registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (https://www.chictr.org.cn/) Identifier: ChiCTR2100047251.
Citation
