Table 5.

Summary of theme ‘Personal growth/beneficial effects for fathers’ (Review question 3)

Citations	Main topics
Factors promoting personal growth
4, 22, 35, 48, 53, 55, 60, 63	Fathers reported aspects of their lives that changed for the better after diagnosis (personal relationships, emotional/spiritual awareness and lifestyle priorities, enhanced self‐confidence, appreciation of life, sense of personal strength and new life directions)
64	Growth significantly associated with perceived treatment intensity
1, 22, 35, 55, 60	Mental health, access to counselling, support from fathers with similar experiences, a well‐paying job with flexible hours, complementariness with spousal coping, and reciprocal shift in spousal work and family roles helped personal growth.
55	Fathers’ initial responses to the child’s diagnosis, most having little prior expectation of the possibility of a serious condition for their child
56	When fathers changed their expectations for their child, there was an increase in personal feelings of satisfaction so ‘joys’ of fathering a child with a chronic illness arose from small, achievements parents of healthy children may take for granted
Factors inhibiting personal growth
55	Initially coped with the diagnosis by ‘walling‐off’ emotions and focusing on ingrained social roles of protector and provider, however, later, they accepted the situation and looked for other means of coping to regain control
22, 35, 52, 53, 55, 63	Diagnosis and treatment sometimes evoked terror, disbelief, numbness, uncertainty and a sense of powerlessness.
22, 35, 53, 63	Low socioeconomic status, mental health impairment, inflexible gender identity, lack of spousal support, ongoing uncertainty and emotional distress impeded personal growth