Investigating the prediction of mental health based on religious coping strategies and self-efficacy in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy

Cancer is one of the most common diseases that seriously threatens human life today, which causes psychological symptoms in addition to physical symptoms and threatens people's mental health. The present study was conducted with the aim of the prediction of mental health based on religious coping strategies and self-efficacy in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in 2019.

The current research is applied in terms of purpose and analytical-correlation type. The statistical population of the research included all the patients suffering from all types of cancer who referred to chemotherapy centers in Shiraz in 2019, and 135 of them were selected by available sampling method. The research tools included Goldberg’s General Health Questionnaire (1997), Pargament's Religious Coping Scale (2000), and Scherer's Self-Efficacy Scale (1982). In order to analyze the data, Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise regression were used.

Based on the results, the variables of religious coping strategy and self-efficacy were able to predict mental health changes in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Also, among the components of the religious coping strategy, the negative religious coping strategy had the most negative effect on the patients' mental health.

Religious coping strategies and self-efficacy are effective in the mental health of cancer patients, therefore it is suggested to improve these variables in these patients.