Resilience among family caregivers of women with breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies

This research is a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis of resilience among family caregivers of breast cancer patients. Family caregivers, such as spouses, adult children, relatives, and close friends, frequently offer practical, emotional, spiritual, and financial support during diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Although caregivers may experience hardship, anguish, role disruption, and self-neglect, they may also draw on relational, spiritual, cultural, and personal resources to adapt and sustain caregiving throughout time. The goal of this review is to find, integrate, and analyze qualitative information on resilience and related adaptive mechanisms among family caregivers of breast cancer patients. Resilience is viewed as a dynamic, context-dependent process rather than a fixed human characteristic. The review focuses on qualitative data on coping, adaptation, meaning-making, benefit-seeking, social support, spirituality, role restructuring, and the preservation of well-being. The review searched Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and PsycINFO for English-language qualitative research published between January 2000 and October 2025. Primary qualitative studies and mixed-methods studies with separable qualitative findings were considered eligible. Two researchers checked data separately, assessed methodological quality with the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist, and synthesized findings thematically. The desired outcome is an interpretive synthesis and integrated framework that demonstrates how family caregivers experience and maintain resilience in the breast cancer caregiving setting. The findings are expected to influence oncology nursing practice, family-centered cancer care, and future caregiver support interventions. This protocol is being registered retrospectively, hence the lack of prospective registration will be seen as a constraint.