Strategies Used in Coping with a Cancer Diagnosis Predict Meaning in Life for Survivors

Overview

Journal Health Psychol

Specialty Public Health

Date 2006 Nov 15

PMID 17100503

Citations 31

Authors

Heather S Jim

Susan A Richardson

Deanna M Golden-Kreutz

Barbara L Andersen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The search for meaning in life is part of the human experience. A negative life event may threaten perceptions about meaning in life, such as the benevolence of the world and one's sense of harmony and peace. The authors examined the longitudinal relationship between women's coping with a diagnosis of breast cancer and their self-reported meaning in life 2 years later. Multiple regression analyses revealed that positive strategies for coping predicted significant variance in the sense of meaning in life--feelings of inner peace, satisfaction with one's current life and the future, and spirituality and faith--and the absence of such strategies predicted reports of loss of meaning and confusion (ps < .01). The importance and process of finding meaning in the context of a life stressor are discussed.

Citing Articles

Comprehensive Review of Breast Cancer Consequences for the Patients and Their Coping Strategies: A Systematic Review.

Kasgri K, Abazari M, Badeleh S, Badeleh K, Peyman N Cancer Control. 2024; 31:10732748241249355.

PMID: 38767653 PMC: 11107334. DOI: 10.1177/10732748241249355.

Self-driven solutions and resilience adapted by people with drug-resistant tuberculosis and their caregivers in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, India: a qualitative study.

Nagarajan K, Kumarswamy K, Begum R, Panibatla V, Singarajipura A, Adepu R Lancet Reg Health Southeast Asia. 2024; 22:100372.

PMID: 38420270 PMC: 10900834. DOI: 10.1016/j.lansea.2024.100372.

Spiritual Health Consequences from the Iranian Adolescents' Perspective.

Naghmeh R, Sadat Hoseini A, Nayeri N J Relig Health. 2023; 63(1):344-355.

PMID: 37721603 DOI: 10.1007/s10943-023-01911-7.

Longitudinal evolution of meaning in life and its relationship with coping strategies in Spanish patients with a breast cancer diagnosis.

Marco J, Castejon J, Isern C, Grau L, Perez Rodriguez S Support Care Cancer. 2023; 31(7):424.

PMID: 37358665 PMC: 10293404. DOI: 10.1007/s00520-023-07885-2.

Knowledge of patients with sarcoma about their illness-a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study (KNOWSARC).

Bg B, Anand V, Kaur S, Gupta N, Rastogi S Ecancermedicalscience. 2023; 16:1467.

PMID: 36819820 PMC: 9934869. DOI: 10.3332/ecancer.2022.1467.

References

Epping-Jordan J, Compas B, Osowiecki D, Oppedisano G, Gerhardt C, Primo K . Psychological adjustment in breast cancer: processes of emotional distress. Health Psychol. 1999; 18(4):315-26. DOI: 10.1037//0278-6133.18.4.315. View

Taylor S, Klein L, Lewis B, Gruenewald T, Gurung R, Updegraff J . Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight. Psychol Rev. 2000; 107(3):411-29. DOI: 10.1037/0033-295x.107.3.411. View

Affleck G, Tennen H . Construing benefits from adversity: adaptational significance and dispositional underpinnings. J Pers. 1996; 64(4):899-922. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00948.x. View

MADDI S . The existential neuroses. J Abnorm Psychol. 1967; 72(4):311-25. DOI: 10.1037/h0020103. View

Hilton B . The relationship of uncertainty, control, commitment, and threat of recurrence to coping strategies used by women diagnosed with breast cancer. J Behav Med. 1989; 12(1):39-54. DOI: 10.1007/BF00844748. View

Bower J, Kemeny M, Taylor S, Fahey J . Cognitive processing, discovery of meaning, CD4 decline, and AIDS-related mortality among bereaved HIV-seropositive men. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1999; 66(6):979-86. DOI: 10.1037//0022-006x.66.6.979. View

Hutzell R . Meaning and purpose in life: assessment techniques of logotherapy. Hosp J. 1986; 2(4):37-50. DOI: 10.1080/0742-969x.1986.11882574. View

Mast M . Survivors of breast cancer: illness uncertainty, positive reappraisal, and emotional distress. Oncol Nurs Forum. 1998; 25(3):555-62. View

Antoni M, Lehman J, Kilbourn K, Boyers A, Culver J, Alferi S . Cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention decreases the prevalence of depression and enhances benefit finding among women under treatment for early-stage breast cancer. Health Psychol. 2001; 20(1):20-32. DOI: 10.1037//0278-6133.20.1.20. View

10.

Vickberg S, Bovbjerg D, DuHamel K, Currie V, Redd W . Intrusive thoughts and psychological distress among breast cancer survivors: global meaning as a possible protective factor. Behav Med. 2000; 25(4):152-60. DOI: 10.1080/08964280009595744. View

11.

Heim E, Augustiny K, Blaser A, Burki C, Kuhne D, Rothenbuhler M . Coping with breast cancer--a longitudinal prospective study. Psychother Psychosom. 1987; 48(1-4):44-59. DOI: 10.1159/000288031. View

12.

Johnson S, Spilka B . Coping with breast cancer: The roles of clergy and faith. J Relig Health. 2013; 30(1):21-33. DOI: 10.1007/BF00986676. View

13.

LIPOWSKI Z . Physical illness, the individual and the coping processes. Psychiatry Med. 1970; 1(2):91-102. DOI: 10.2190/19q3-9ql8-xyv1-8xc2. View

14.

Maunsell E, Brisson J, Deschenes L . Psychological distress after initial treatment of breast cancer. Assessment of potential risk factors. Cancer. 1992; 70(1):120-5. DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(19920701)70:1<120::aid-cncr2820700120>3.0.co;2-u. View

15.

Baider L . Psychological distress and intrusive thoughts in cancer patients. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1997; 185(5):346-8. DOI: 10.1097/00005053-199705000-00010. View

16.

Clark K, Bormann C, Cropanzano R, JAMES K . Validation evidence for three coping measures. J Pers Assess. 1995; 65(3):434-55. DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa6503_5. View

17.

Ware Jr J, Sherbourne C . The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36). I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Med Care. 1992; 30(6):473-83. View

18.

Andersen B, Anderson B, Deprosse C . Controlled prospective longitudinal study of women with cancer: II. Psychological outcomes. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1989; 57(6):692-7. PMC: 2719967. DOI: 10.1037//0022-006x.57.6.692. View

19.

Shapiro D, Boggs S, Rodrigue J, Urry H, Algina J, HELLMAN R . Stage II breast cancer: differences between four coping patterns in side effects during adjuvant chemotherapy. J Psychosom Res. 1997; 43(2):143-57. DOI: 10.1016/s0022-3999(97)80001-3. View

20.

Golden-Kreutz D, Thornton L, Wells-Di Gregorio S, Frierson G, Jim H, Carpenter K . Traumatic stress, perceived global stress, and life events: prospectively predicting quality of life in breast cancer patients. Health Psychol. 2005; 24(3):288-96. PMC: 2151211. DOI: 10.1037/0278-6133.24.3.288. View