The association between coping styles, meaning in life, death preparedness of advanced cancer patients.

Context: The current level of death preparedness in advanced cancer patients is low. However, death preparedness is an important prerequisite for quality of life and quality of death for these patients.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the unique relationship between coping styles, meaning in life, and death preparedness in advanced cancer patients, and whether meaning in life mediates the relationship between coping styles and death preparedness.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. A convenience sampling method was used to recruit 1100 advanced cancer patients from seven hospitals in Hubei and Anhui provinces, China. Data were collected using the medical coping modes questionnaire, the meaning in life questionnaire, and the death preparedness scale. Pearson's correlation was used to examine the relationship between coping styles, meaning in life, and death preparedness. Mediation analyses examined whether meaning in life mediated the relationship between coping styles and death preparedness.

Results: The coping style of confrontation and meaning in life are positively correlated with death preparedness. The coping style of avoidance is negatively correlated with death preparedness. Meaning in life plays a partial mediating role between the coping styles of confrontation, avoidance and death preparedness.

Conclusion: These findings provide new knowledge and perspectives to promote death preparedness in advanced cancer patients. Meaning in life played a partial mediating role between coping styles of confrontation, avoidance and death preparedness. Therefore, to improve patients' death preparedness, taking effective measures to enhance patients' meaning in life is particularly important.