TY - JOUR
T1 - Predictors of existential and religious well-being among cancer patients
AU - Mazzotti, Eva
AU - Mazzuca, Federica
AU - Sebastiani, Claudia
AU - Scoppola, Alessandro
AU - Marchetti, Paolo
PY - 2011/12
Y1 - 2011/12
N2 - Well-being and mental health are not only direct functions of amount of stress, but also depend on how people appraise and face critical situations. Spiritual well-being seems to be a central component of psychological health in physically healthy individuals and it offers some protection against end-of-life despair in those with chronic diseases. In this study, 250 out and in-patients with a cancer diagnosis were interviewed with standardised instruments to measure two aspects of spirituality, existential and religious well-being, coping strategies, psychological state, and quality of life (QoL). Using multivariate logistic regression models we found that coping strategies characterized by acceptance and positive reinterpretation of the stressor, and the absence of anxiety disorder, independently increased the likelihood of the existential well-being (Odds Ratio, OR, 7.7, and OR, 4.5, respectively), whereas religious well-being was not significantly associated with these variables. Our findings show that existential and religious well-being may be very different. A spirituality-based intervention could be differently utilized by patients with different beliefs, cognitive and behaviour characteristics. Measure of coping strategies and psychological state should be part of routine management of cancer patients.
AB - Well-being and mental health are not only direct functions of amount of stress, but also depend on how people appraise and face critical situations. Spiritual well-being seems to be a central component of psychological health in physically healthy individuals and it offers some protection against end-of-life despair in those with chronic diseases. In this study, 250 out and in-patients with a cancer diagnosis were interviewed with standardised instruments to measure two aspects of spirituality, existential and religious well-being, coping strategies, psychological state, and quality of life (QoL). Using multivariate logistic regression models we found that coping strategies characterized by acceptance and positive reinterpretation of the stressor, and the absence of anxiety disorder, independently increased the likelihood of the existential well-being (Odds Ratio, OR, 7.7, and OR, 4.5, respectively), whereas religious well-being was not significantly associated with these variables. Our findings show that existential and religious well-being may be very different. A spirituality-based intervention could be differently utilized by patients with different beliefs, cognitive and behaviour characteristics. Measure of coping strategies and psychological state should be part of routine management of cancer patients.
KW - Anxiety
KW - Cancer
KW - Coping strategies
KW - Existential wellbeing
KW - Quality of life
KW - Religious wellbeing
KW - Spiritual wellbeing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=83555160919&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=83555160919&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00520-010-1033-4
DO - 10.1007/s00520-010-1033-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 21107614
AN - SCOPUS:83555160919
VL - 19
SP - 1931
EP - 1937
JO - Supportive Care in Cancer
JF - Supportive Care in Cancer
SN - 0941-4355
IS - 12
ER -