Religious/spiritual coping and adjustment in individuals with cancer: unanswered questions, important trends, and future directions

Abstract

Thune-Boyle, Stygall, Keshtgar, and Newman's (2006) literature review generated inconclusive findings regarding the relationship between religious coping and illness adjustment in cancer patients. This paper aims to review studies following Thune-Boyle et al. (2006), as well as to categorise trends not previously addressed. Increasingly, current research conceptualises religious coping multidimensionally. Separating religious coping into positive and negative dimensions, negative religious coping appears negatively associated with illness adjustment, while the relationship between positive religious coping and adjustment is unclear. Findings are mixed when examining whether religious coping affects adjustment directly, with nonreligious coping and stage of cancer as potential mediators and moderators. Research suggests that religious needs assessments, as well as spiritually focused therapy may positively impact illness adjustment. Further, causal conclusions are generally curtailed by universal limitations in the design and methods of the religious coping research.