The role of religious and spiritual beliefs in coping with malignant melanoma

✍ Scribed by Jimmie C. Holland; Steven Passik; Kathryn M. Kash; Simcha M. Russak; Melissa K. Gronert; Antonio Sison; Marguerite Lederberg; Bernard Fox; Lea Baider

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 89 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1057-9249
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1611(199901/02)8:1<14::aid-pon321>3.0.co;2-e

✦ Synopsis

This study investigated the role of spiritual and religious beliefs in ambulatory patients coping with malignant melanoma. One-hundred and seventeen patients with melanoma being seen in an outpatient clinic completed a battery of measurements including the newly validated Systems of Belief Inventory (SBI-54). No correlation was found between SBI-54 scores and levels of distress. However, there was a correlation between greater reliance on spiritual and religious beliefs and use of an active-cognitive coping style (r= 0.46, pB 0.0001). Data suggest that use of religious and spiritual beliefs is associated with an active rather than passive form of coping. We suggest that such beliefs provide a helpful active-cognitive framework for many individuals from which to face the existential crises of life-threatening illness.