Religious and existential coping among pediatric cancer patients and healthy controls: Impact on psychological growth and distress.

Objective: To examine the longitudinal relationship between the use of religious and existential coping strategies on future psychological growth and distress among youth with a history of cancer and matched peers without cancer.

Method: Participants (n = 294; cancer history = 179; no cancer history = 115) were aged 8-17 years at time of study enrollment. Participants completed assessments of religious and existential coping 3 years from baseline assessment, and assessments of psychological stress and growth 5 years from baseline assessment. Regression analyses examined medical, sociodemographic, and religious and existential coping factors associated with assessments of psychological stress and growth. The moderating roles of religious and existential coping on the relationship between group membership (i.e. those with/without cancer history) and psychological distress and growth were explored.

Results: A significant interaction effect was observed for psychological distress which indicated non-cancer comparisons, but not youth with cancer, reported greater psychological distress at year 5 when low levels of existential coping were reported at year 3. Additionally, a significant interaction effect was observed for psychological growth which indicated youth with cancer, but not non-cancer comparisons, reported greater psychological growth at year 5 when high levels of religious coping were reported at year 3.

Conclusion: Results highlight religious coping was associated with greater psychological growth but not distress among youth with cancer, and suggest clinicians should aim to treat patient's spirituality with cultural humility and find ways to incorporate aspects of patient's spirituality into evidence-based behavioral health treatments.