Body, mind and spirit: towards the integration of religiosity and spirituality in cancer quality of life research.

The importance of religion and spirituality to the American public has been highlighted by recent opinion polls, media attention and empirical studies. Psychosocial researchers are incorporating these variables into studies of emotional and physical illness. A number of studies have found that, for cancer patients, religious, spiritual and quality of life concerns are paramount. This paper reviews the literature relating religion and spirituality to physical and emotional health and quality of life. Definitions and measurement issues related to religiosity/spirituality and quality of life are discussed. The paper provides a rationale and methodological suggestions for future studies assessing religious and spiritual beliefs of cancer patients in relation to quality of life. The authors conclude that regular inclusion of religiosity and spirituality measures in quality of life studies is needed in order to understand the integration of mind, body and spirit in cancer care.

Coping strategies and psychological distress in cancer patients before autologous bone marrow transplant.

The increased use of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) to treat a variety of cancers has led researchers to study psychological functioning of BMT patients. The majority of studies conducted, however, has focused on adjustment after transplantation. Cancer patients' use of coping strategies before undergoing this procedure may also relate to levels of psychological distress. Our aims were (1) to provide normative coping data, controlling for situation-specific variables with a homogeneous sample, targeted stressor, and fixed time point, using the Ways of Coping Questionnaire; and (2) to identify coping strategies associated with distress before high-dose chemotherapy. Subjects were 49 patients scheduled to receive high-dose chemotherapy and an autologous bone marrow transplant. Consistent with previous coping research, we found that escape-avoidance was related to psychological distress on several measures. Item endorsement analyses of the escape-avoidance subscale suggest that patients may have used more passive than active avoidance strategies. Subsequent participation in a longitudinal study was not affected by initial levels of avoidant coping.