Coping with cancer: the role of different sources of psychosocial support and the personality of patients with cancer in (mal)adaptive coping strategies.

Abstract

Cancer is a serious event in a person's life. However, certain coping strategies in relation to selected social, emotional, and personality factors appear to manage the disease. Sources of social support were tested in cancer survivors (N = 696) using hierarchical linear regression. Selected personality variables in terms of sociodemographic, clinical, and emotional factors were used as predictors of adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies. It was found that adaptive coping strategies were more frequent in younger patients, in patients who attended cancer support groups and those with a greater level of optimism. Maladaptive coping was related to the higher level of experience of pain and sadness, neuroticism, and pessimism. The absence of a relapse and the time since the disease had been diagnosed were also important factors in coping with cancer. The results point to the importance of considering various individual factors in the process of intervention to facilitate adaptive coping and to reduce maladaptive coping.