Assessing the impact of religious resources and struggle on well-being: a report from the American Cancer Society’s Study of Cancer Survivors-I

Purpose: The current study examined the relationships between religious resources (i.e., certainty of belief in God and attendance at religious services), religious struggle (e.g., belief that cancer is evidence of God’s punishment or abandonment), and physical and mental health-related quality of life (HRQoL), including fear of cancer recurrence (FCR), in a large, geographically and clinically diverse sample of long-term survivors of cancer. Methods: Participants were 2021 9-year survivors of cancer from the American Cancer Society’s Study of Cancer Survivors – I. Religious resources included belief in God and attendance at religious services. Items from the Brief RCOPE and the PROMIS Psychosocial Impact of Illness were combined to assess religious struggle. Survivors also completed the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory, SF-12, and Meaning and Peace subscales of the FACIT-Sp. Regression models were used to predict HRQoL and FCR from religious resources and struggle. Results: In multivariable models, certain belief in God predicted greater mental HRQoL (B = 1.99, p <.01), and attendance at religious services was associated with greater FCR (B =.80, p <.05) as well as better mental (B =.34, p <.01) and physical (B =.29, p <.05) HRQoL. In addition, religious struggle predicted greater FCR (B = 1.32, p <.001) and poorer mental (B = −.59, p <.001) and physical (B = −.29, p <.001) HRQoL. Many of these relationships were mediated through Meaning. Conclusions: With the exception of FCR, religious resources predicted better HRQoL outcomes in these long-term survivors of cancer. Conversely, religious struggle consistently predicted poorer HRQoL, including greater FCR. Implications for Cancer Survivors: Given the documented importance of its role in coping with the cancer experience, religion/spirituality should be a consideration in every survivorship care plan. Multidisciplinary assessment and support of religious resources and identification of and referral for religious struggle are needed to ensure the well-being of most long-term survivors of cancer.