Strategies used in coping with a cancer diagnosis predict meaning in life for survivors.

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. Keywordscoping; meaning in life; survivor; breast cancer Human beings are motivated to find meaning in their lives (Frankl, 1959(Frankl, /1963. At no time is this more evident than in the aftermath of a traumatic event. Events that pose physical harm or death can shatter one's schemas of a just, purposeful world and an invulnerable self (JanoffBulman, 1989). A cancer diagnosis is one such event (e.g., Alter et al., 1996;Cordova et al., 1995). The diagnosis brings acute emotional distress (Andersen, Anderson, & deProsse, 1989;Epping-Jordan et al., 1999;Maunsell, Brisson, & Deschenes, 1992), and individuals struggle with questions about why the disease struck them, its significance for their future, and the changes that may follow. If patients can somehow answer these questions or address these issues, improved adjustment may follow. Several cross-sectional studies show that patients who report more meaning in their life in the wake of their cancer diagnosis also report less distress (Lewis, 1989; Vickberg, Bovbjerg, Du-Hamel, Currie, & Redd, 2000;Vickberg et al., 2001), though the causal ordering in the relationship is not clear.In the past, the varied conceptualizations of meaning in life-from one's attitude in the face of suffering (Frankl, 1959(Frankl, /1963) to a life story with oneself as the protagonist (Thompson & Janigian, 1988)-have made systematic study of meaning difficult. Theorists have suggested that meaning in life may be a multidimensional construct. One dimension may be satisfaction with "the network of people or things that comprise the immediate world" (Weisman & Worden, 1976, p. 3). For example, Frankl (1959/1963 suggested that meaning in life comes from interactions with the immediate world, the encounters and experiences one takes from the world, and the contributions one makes in return. A second dimension of meaning in life (Garfield, 1973;Hutzell, 1986;Reker & Wong, 1988). Feelings of harmony and integration with life may be important to this dimension (Paloutzian & Ellison, 1982). A third dimension may be the belief that life, and human life in particular, fits into an overall pattern that exists superior to the individual (Paloutzian & Ellison, 1982;Yalom, 1980). This may encompass reli...

Psychosocial Clinical Pathway of Breast Cancer in Portuguese Women: The Distress, Emotional Control, Neuroticism, Social Support, Coping, Quality of Life and Body Image Perception’s Changes over Time

“…Considering the psychosocial clinical pathway, we observed that the women in our sample faced breast cancer as a benefit finding event, as has been observed in several other studies [18,44,52,88,89,90], or as posttraumatic growth, which includes: better relationships with family and friends, sense of competence, changes in priorities, greater emotional strength, deeper spirituality and a desire live everyday fully [19,51,52].…”

Estratégias de enfrentamento e relação com condições sociodemográficas de mulheres com câncer de mama

“…The search for religion, as a coping strategy in the act of praying, as well as the search for religious services can help to adapt to this new concept of life, in which women can start to see the diagnosis as part of a broader plan that is meaningful for their life, instead of defining it as a random event (21) . Faith plays a significant role as a coping strategy, as belief in God influences the development of adaptive responses to difficult situations deriving from the disease (18) .…”

“My bus is here”: A phenomenological exploration of “living-with-dying”.

“…Janoff-Bulman,1992). Researchers have identified the cognitive and narrative tasks associated with processing such a diagnosis, drawing attention to the importance of meaning-making around the new situation (Jim et al, 2006;Frank, 1995;Roussi and Avdi, 2008;Bingley et al, 2006). It seems that finding meaning in the experience reduces symptoms of emotional distress associated with the cancer experience (Jim and Andersen, 2007;Tomich and Helgeson, 2002;Voogt et al, 2005).…”