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Perceived stress and health-related quality of life in cancer patients: the mediating role of religious coping

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Abstract

Cancer patients usually encounter multiple coping challenges in the course of managing their health, which have significant impacts in their health and wellbeing. Although perceived stress has been linked to lower HRQoL in cancer patients, research on religious coping strategies as a mediating pathway in this relationship is lacking. In this study, we investigated the mediating influence of religious coping in the relationship between perceived stress and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among cancer patients. Three hundred and sixteen patients (males = 35.4%, females = 64.6%, mean age = 50.16, SD = 13.00) completed measures of perceived stress, religious coping and HRQoL. Result showed that perceived was associated with lower HRQOL (β = −.77, p.001). Negative religious coping (β = −1.98, p < .001) was significantly associated with lower HRQoL. In line with our main hypothesis, the results revealed that negative religious coping mediated the relationship between perceived stress and HRQoL (β = −.66, p.001). The study’s findings have important clinical implications for improved HRQoL in cancer patients particularly in the low- and middle-income countries. Cognitive-based therapy aimed at reducing the extent to which cancer patients perceive management of their health condition as stressful could improve their health functions.

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Data availability

The data for this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The researchers are grateful to those who agreed to take part in the study. The researchers also wish to thank the research assistants who assisted with data collection for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Religion and Cultural Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

    Lawrence Nwachukwu Okwuosa

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

    Desmond Uchechukwu Onu & Maria-Chidi Christiana Onyedibe

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  1. Lawrence Nwachukwu Okwuosa
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  2. Desmond Uchechukwu Onu
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Maria-Chidi C Onyedibe organized the data collection materials, wrote the method section of the manuscript, and conducted the statistical analysis. Desmond U. Onu wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Lawrence Okwuosa revised the manuscript critically and contributed significant intellectual content. All authors critically read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Maria-Chidi Christiana Onyedibe.

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Ethical statement

The Health Research Ethical Committee of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) in southwest Nigeria approved the study (NO: ADM/DCST/HREC/APP/2664).

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Participants who agreed to participate in the study completed an informed consent form.

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The authors declared no conflicts of interest with regard to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Okwuosa, L.N., Onu, D.U. & Onyedibe, MC.C. Perceived stress and health-related quality of life in cancer patients: the mediating role of religious coping. Curr Psychol 43, 3166–3174 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04510-7

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