A Study of Spirituality, Self-forgiveness and Self-blame in the Quality of Life of Patients with Breast Cancer

Considering that the health and illness of women can directly affect the general health of the family and society, and the problems originated from this disease not only affect the patients, but also exert a deleterious effect on the members of the family and undermine the foundation of the family. Thus, research on factors associated with the psychological issues of these patients can urge policy makers and healthcare professionals to pay greater attention to this issue. The aim of this study is to determine whether the quality of life of patients with breast cancer could be predicted by spirituality, self-forgiveness and self-blame.

This is a descriptive correlational study in which 120 cancer patients admitted to two university hospitals were selected using cluster-sampling method. The research instruments were the Paloutzian and Ellison’s Spiritual Well-Being Scale (1), self-forgiveness and self-blame scales and World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire. According to the level of data and statistical assumptions, multiple linear regression was used to test the hypotheses

The results of statistical analysis showed that the components of spiritual wellness, existential wellness, anxiety control and realistic perception were related to the quality of life at a significantly level of 5%. The positive value of these coefficients actually indicates that by improving these components, the quality of life could be enhanced. Also, it was found that negative attitude and self-blame were in a negative relationship with the quality of life.

The present study investigated the relationship between spirituality, self-forgiveness and self-blame with quality of life, with the results indicating that personal-level variables, i.e. spirituality, self-forgiveness and self-blame affect the quality of life