DOI: 10.1097/md.0000000000049936 ISSN: 0025-7974

Latent profile analysis of dyadic resilience in patients with non–small cell lung cancer and their caregivers and implications for intervention strategies: A cross-sectional study

Jie Chen, Dabin Yang, Qiang Ren, Kai Wu, Xing Meng, Tian Tian

This study investigates the latent classification of resilience levels of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient and primary caregiver dyads and analyzes differences in characteristics among and factors associated with inclusion in different subgroups. In this cross-sectional study, from June to December 2024, a convenience sample of 315 dyads of NSCLC patients and their primary family caregivers were recruited from a tertiary general hospital in Anhui Province. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Social Support Rating Scale. Latent profile analysis was performed using patient and caregiver resilience total scores as observed indicators to identify potential categories of dyadic psychological resilience, and multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the factors associated with inclusion in each category. The psychological resilience of NSCLC patient–caregiver dyads could be classified into 4 latent categories: category 1, “Dyadic Low Resilience-Low Support Group” (16.51%); category 2, “Dyadic Moderate Resilience-Low Perceived Support Group” (48.89%); category 3, “Dyadic Moderate Resilience-Good Support Utilization Group” (22.86%); and category 4, “Dyadic High Resilience Group” (11.74%). The results of the multinomial logistic regression, with the “Dyadic High Resilience Group” as the reference, showed that older patient age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.08; 95% confidence interval: 1.03–1.14 for class 1 vs class 4), advanced disease stage (III–IV; OR = 2.85–4.12; P  < .05), lower caregiver education level (OR = 2.78–4.56; P  < .05), lower total dyad social support score (OR = 0.86–0.91; P  < .001), and longer daily direct caregiving time (>8 hours; OR = 2.11–3.22; P  < .05) were significant factors associated with belonging to lower-resilience categories (all P  < .05). Significant heterogeneity in psychological resilience was observed within dyads composed of NSCLC patients and their caregivers. In clinical practice, an isolationist perspective may benefit from shifting toward a holistic “patient-caregiver” dyadic framework for assessment and intervention. Implementing precise, stratified psychosocial support strategies tailored to the core characteristics of different latent profile groups may be valuable for improving dyadic coping efficacy and shared quality of life.

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