Religious/Spiritual Coping Methods Among Cancer Patients in Portugal

Abstract

This article is part of an international study on meaning-making coping aimed at understanding the role of culture in coping in different cultural settings. The international study was conducted among cancer patients in 10 countries. This article contains the results obtained in the study in Portugal. The main aim is to investigate the impact of culture on the meaning-making coping methods used by cancer patients. In this article, only religious/spiritual coping methods are in focus. Thirty-one participants with various kinds of cancer (e.g., breast, testicular, lymphoma) were interviewed. Nine different kinds of coping methods related to religion and spirituality emerged from analysis of the interviews. These methods, which are categorized on the basis of religious coping’s five basic religious functions, are as follows: seeking spiritual support, spiritual connection, spiritual discontent, benevolent religious reappraisal, punishing god reappraisal, God’s trust in personal strength, support from clergy or members, self-directing religious coping, and active religious surrender. The study confirms the notion that the strategies people employ when they are stricken by disease, accidents, misfortune, and so on are cultural and temporal constructions. As such, they are valid in concrete contexts and time periods. It is, thus, important that cultural context be taken into consideration when exploring the use of meaning-making coping strategies in different countries.

“I’m Grateful, but Am I?”: The Exploration of Gratitude as a Complex Experience Among Malaysian Cancer Patients

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Meaning-Making Coping Methods among Bereaved Parents: A Pilot Survey Study in Sweden

“…In this Swedish pilot study among beavered parents, the focus was on looking at meaning-making coping from a cultural/contextual perspective. The study is theoretically based on the results of 20 years of research on meaning-making coping with crises conducted by a research team in 10 countries [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

Secular Existential Meaning-Making Coping Among Cancer Patients in Portugal: A Qualitative Study

“…The results presented here are restricted to secular existential coping methods. We have discussed the findings on religious and spiritual coping methods in another article (Ahmadi, Matos,Tavares,Toma´s and Ahmadi (2018)). Moreover, given the important role of family and personal relationships in Portuguese society, the meaning-making coping related to these relationships will be discussed separately in another paper.…”