Coping, Positive Growth and Social Support in Turkish Women with Breast Cancer

Year 2023, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 72 - 89, 30.12.2023

Gülşen Filazoğlu Çokluk

https://doi.org/10.61158/saukad.1361374

Abstract

The study aimed to explore the role of social support, coping strategies in fostering positive growth among Turkish women with breast cancer, utilizing a cross-sectional design. Involving 188 women from three hospital centers in Türkiye the research employed standardized measures such as The Ways of Coping Inventory and the Stress Related Growth Scale, alongside collecting socio-demographic and medical information. The results revealed significant positive correlations between social support, problem-solving, religious coping, and seeking social support coping strategies with positive growth (ps < 0.05). Conversely, helplessness coping strategies were inversely correlated with positive growth (ps < 0.05). Furthermore, multivariate analysis indicated that 61.2% of the positive growth score could be attributed to variables such as the stage of cancer, marital status, social support, problem-solving coping, and religious coping. The perceived availability of emotional support, particularly in the context of benefit finding, plays a crucial role in the patients' emotional adjustment. Conclusively, the findings suggest that enhancing social support, problem-solving, and religious coping could significantly improve the outcomes for Turkish women dealing with breast cancer. This research underscores the need for improvements in healthcare policies, support systems, and educational programs, proposing that such interventions should be integrated into healthcare services to effectively contribute to the positive growth of breast cancer patients.

Keywords

positive growth, coping, social support, breast cancer, women

Türk Kadınlarında Meme Kanseri ile Başa Çıkma, Pozitif Büyüme ve Sosyal Desteğin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Türkiye de meme kanseri tanısı almış kadınlar arasında sosyal destek ve başa çıkma stratejilerinin pozitif büyümeyi teşvik etmedeki rolünü keşfetmeyi amaçlamaktadır ve kesitsel bir tasarımla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Türkiye'deki üç hastane merkezinden 188 kadın katılım sağlamış, araştırmada Başa Çıkma Stratejileri Envanteri ve Stresle İlgili Büyüme Ölçeği kullanılmıştır; ayrıca sosyo-demografik ve tıbbi bilgiler de toplanmıştır. Sonuçlar, sosyal destek, problem çözme, dini başa çıkma ve sosyal destek arama stratejilerinin pozitif büyüme ile önemli pozitif korelasyonlar gösterdiğini ortaya koymuştur (p < 0.05). Tersine, çaresizlik başa çıkma stratejileri pozitif büyüme ile ters korelasyon göstermiştir (p < 0.05). Ayrıca, çok değişkenli analiz, pozitif büyüme puanının %61.2'sinin kanserin evresi, medeni durum, sosyal destek, problem çözme ve dini başa çıkma gibi değişkenlere atfedilebileceğini göstermiştir. Bu araştırma, sağlık politikalarında, destek sistemlerinde ve eğitim programlarında iyileştirmelerin gerekliliğini vurgulamakta ve bu tür müdahalelerin meme kanseri hastalarının pozitif büyümesine etkili bir şekilde katkıda bulunmak için sağlık hizmetlerine entegre edilmesi önem taşımaktadır.

Keywords

pozitif büyüme, başa çıkma, sosyal destek, meme kanseri, kadınlar

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