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The Spirituality in End-of-Life Cancer Patients, in Relation to Anxiety, Depression, Coping Strategies and the Daily Spiritual Experiences: A Cross-Sectional Study

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Abstract

This study aimed to investigate “Faith” and “Meaning/Peace” dimensions of the functional assessment of chronic illness therapy–spiritual well-being scale (FACIT-Sp-12) in relation to coping strategies, anxiety and depression, and to analyze the relationship between FACIT-Sp-12 and the daily spiritual experience scale in end-of-life cancer patients. A sample of 152 participants were involved. The daily spiritual experiences correlated the most with “Faith” subscale. Moreover, religious coping, depression and daily spiritual experiences resulted “Faith” significant predictors, while depression, anxiety, self-distraction, positive reframing and behavioral disengagement were “Meaning/Peace” subscale’s significant predictors. These findings highlighted the considerable impact of the daily spiritual experiences on patients’ spiritual well-being.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Underwood for her invitation of using the DSES in an Italian sample.

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This research did not receive any specific Grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or non-for-profit sectors.

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Correspondence to Andrea Bovero.

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All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Bovero, A., Tosi, C., Botto, R. et al. The Spirituality in End-of-Life Cancer Patients, in Relation to Anxiety, Depression, Coping Strategies and the Daily Spiritual Experiences: A Cross-Sectional Study. J Relig Health 58, 2144–2160 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00849-z

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