Spiritual/Religious Coping Strategies and their Relationship with Illness Adjustment among Iranian Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Use of spiritual/ religious resources is one important coping strategy for breast cancer patients. However, the relationship between spiritual coping and adjustment to cancer diagnosis has not been well investigated among Iranian breast cancer patients.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive-correlational study was undertaken among 266 breast cancer patients referred to two educational centers in north-western Iran. They were selected using a convenience sampling method. The Iranian Religious Coping Scale and Iranian Coping Operations Preference Enquiry were used for data collection. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 13.0.RESULTS: The study findings showed that Iranian cancer patients had a high level of spiritual coping. Also, positive religious coping strategies were used more frequently than negative approaches. In addition, there was a positive and significant correlation between spiritual coping and adjustment to cancer among study participants.CONCLUSIONS: Using spiritual coping strategies may play a vital role in adjustment process in patients with breast cancer. Therefore, having spiritual counseling and incorporating coping strategies into the treatment regimen may be effective for enhancing illness adjustment in such patients.