Longitudinal evolution of meaning in life and its relationship with coping strategies in Spanish patients with a breast cancer diagnosis

BACKGROUND: Changes in Meaning in life (MIL) have been shown to be particularly important when people face very stressful events such as receiving a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Active coping strategies have been related to higher levels of MIL in people with a diagnosis of cancer. OBJECTIVE: To explore the evolution of MIL in a sample of cancer patients at the time of their diagnosis and three, six, and nine months after surgery, and identify the association between coping strategies three months after diagnosis (T2) and levels of MIL at the different moments in the cancer process (T1-T4). METHODS: We assessed MIL at diagnosis and three, six, and nine months after surgery, and coping strategies (fighting spirit, anxious preoccupation, hopelessness, fatalism, and cognitive avoidance) three months after surgery, in 115 women with a diagnosis of Stage I-III breast cancer. RESULTS: We found higher levels of MIL nine months after surgery, compared to previous stages. MIL correlated significantly and positively with a fighting spirit and cognitive avoidance, and negatively with hopelessness and anxious preoccupation. CONCLUSIONS: Results highlight the importance of coping in relation to meaning-making processes in cancer. Meaning-centred interventions could help patients who are in the process of coping with cancer to make sense of their lives and the experience.