"Since anticipating a spouse's death may create as much psychological distress as the actual loss, it is not surprising that spouses of cancer patients are vulnerable to depression both before and after the patient's death," writes researcher Alexis D. Abernethy, Ph.D., of the Graduate School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary. "Religion represents one potential influence on emotional well-being in spouses of cancer patients that has received scant attention."
Religious coping refers to the use of religious beliefs or practices to cope with stressful life circumstances. It includes activities such as prayer, seeking comfort from one's faith and obtaining support from church members, Abernethy and colleagues explain. The study appears in the November-December issue of Psychosomatics.
The study included 156 spouses of people who had been diagnosed with lung cancer within the previous five years and who were at various lung cancer stages. The spouses ranged in age from 26 to 85 years old (with a mean study sample age of 63.9 years). Seventy-eight percent of the spouses were women and 96 percent were Caucasian.
The researchers used standard tools to assess the spouses' levels of religious coping and depressive symptoms, as well as their sense of control over events, self-efficacy and level of social support.
Spouses who used moderate levels of religious coping were found to be less depressed than those who used lower or high levels of religious coping. The researchers explain that the finding that high levels of religious coping were linked to relatively high depression scores may have two explanations.
"First, high scores for religious coping may reflect over-reliance on less adaptive religious coping strategies and neglect of other important coping strategies," the researchers write. "Second, people who feel the most desperate may be more likely to turn to religion; that is, high levels of depression may precede increased use of religious coping."
The study results also suggest that a unique, complex relationship exists between religious coping and depression, even when perceived control, self-efficacy and social support variables are factored.
The research was part of a larger study of adjustment to lung cancer diagnosis and treatment. It was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.
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