6 8 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 7 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 2 1 4 Discussion The aim of the present study was to analyze the experience of various ways of spirituality practice (public, private, experience of faith, intellectual, ideological) in the context of coping strategies (fighting spirit, fatalism, anxious preoccupation, cognitive avoidance, helplessness/hopelessness) in cancer survivors. Traumas do not represent everyday problems. They challenge the essential construction of meaning which people experience in their lives and disrupt the sense of cohesion and meaning of life that had existed before them. Religiosity represents a strength which may enhance the meaning in situations where it has been lost. Although the areas of humor and hope have been the scope of study for longer time, the positive contribution of spirituality and religiosity is a newer topic of research. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish the focus on spirituality when dealing with trauma in lives of cancer patients (O’Rourke, Tallman and Altmaier 2008, 227). Spirituality and religiosity are closely linked to better physical health results (Pargament et al. 2004; Koenig 2012), improve the quality of life and reduce the occurrence of anxiety and depression in cancer patients (Chaar et al. 2018, 2581). Spirituality correlates significantly with the choice of coping strategies (Cotton 1999, 429) and represents an important factor in adaptation to cancer (Garland 2007, 949). The results of our analysis showed that the use of maladaptive coping strategies in form of helplessness/hopelessness and anxious preoccupation correlated negatively with public as well as private practice of faith. Patients with the experience of faith selected fatalism as a strategy of adaptation to cancer. The results also confirmed that the patients with ideological, intellectual spirituality experience and the experience of faith used adaptive coping strategies, namely fighting spirit and fatalism. Similarly, Cotton (1999, 451) pointed out that the spirituality correlated positively with the subscales of fighting spirit and fatalism and negatively with experiencing helplessness, hopelessness, and anxiety. Inclusion of togetherness with God or a respect towards God into the process of coping with the illness has a positive impact on psychosocial adaptation. Moreover, religious coping explains a unique difference in adaptation to illnesses beyond the explanation of the contribution presented by the influence of the illness, demographic variables, and social support. Religious coping may apparently present one of the more important factors in coping with the illness, similarly to the available social support (Nairn and Merluzzi 2003, 433). Spirituality practices contribute to experiencing of happiness and satisfaction in life (Thune-Boyle et al. 2006, 151). 5 Conclusion The results of the research showed a connection between the experience of faith and the management of oncological disease. It is suggested for the important directions of future research to focus on the need of more thorough analysis of the variables of spirituality together with the concepts of coping with cancer through longitudinal research aimed at learning about the connections leading to the posttraumatic growth. The present study was limited in several ways. First, the cross-sectional design limits the complex understanding of mutual links between spirituality experiences and coping with cancer in cancer survivors. Second, more thorough study of spirituality in the context of further protective and risk factors associated with cancer would bring a deeper insight into the topic. Note Data, analytical code, and additional materials are available at https://osf.io/59zmp/. Acknowledgment The study originated as a partial outcome of the project VEGA 1/0305/18.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzgxMzI=