ORIGINAL PAPER
Religiosity and death anxiety among cancer patients: the mediating role of religious comfort and struggle
More details
Hide details
1
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
(Institute of Psychology)
Online publication date: 2023-09-11
Corresponding author
Radosław Rybarski
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Institute of Psychology, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2023;36(4):450-64
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Religiosity may serve as a personal source of support when people face a life-threatening illness, but it can also elicit stress. The main
aim of this study is to show how various religious dimensions interplay in predicting death anxiety in patients diagnosed as having cancer. Material and Methods: In the cross‐sectional, descriptive‐analytical research, 141 Polish patients who were hospitalized due to cancer were selected using
sequential convenience sampling. Data were collected using the Centrality of Religiosity Scale, Religious Comfort and Strain Scale, and the Death
Anxiety and Dying Distress Scale. Results: The authors’ results show that the effect of the centrality of religiosity on death anxiety is non-linear. We can also confirm the mediating role of religious comfort and struggles in the relationship between the centrality of religiosity and death anxiety. Conclusions: Thus, religious struggles appear to weaken the effect of religion on death anxiety, whereas religious comfort (contrary to expectation) does not enhance it. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2023;36(4):450–64