Meaning in life and psycho-spiritual functioning: a comparison of breast cancer survivors and healthy women.
OBJECTIVE
Incorporating holistic health perspectives, this study compared and examined relationships among meaning in life, spirituality, perceived stress, and psychological distress in breast cancer survivors (BCS) and healthy women.


METHODS
Standardized self-report measures were completed once by all participants (N = 78).


RESULTS
Group comparison revealed statistically significant variances across the measures. Covariate analysis identified BCS without children had less meaningful lives and greater stress and distress than BCS with children and participants without cancer. Significant correlations (p > .001) between meaning in life and spirituality (r = .43), stress (r = -.39), and distress (r = -.41) were also identified.


CONCLUSIONS
Personal factors (i.e., being a parent) may be especially important in BCS. Also, psychological and spiritual variables are highly correlated, suggesting the use of an integrated term psycho-spiritual functioning.


CONCLUSIONS
Holistic nursing interventions can facilitate self-awareness, interpersonal connection, and living a meaningful life, particularly in vulnerable patients such as BCS without children.
Bauer-Wu
Susan
S
Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research in Nursing and Patient Care, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. susan_bauer_wu@dfci.harvard.edu
Farran
Carol J
CJ
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006694:Holistic Health; D018939:Holistic Nursing / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D029181:Spirituality; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000451:nursing*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States