The relationship between social support and coping behaviors in women with breast cancer

Abstract

Cancer is.the second leading cause of death among Americans with breast cancer being the most common site in women. Social support is needed by patients with cancer as they learn to cope with thetr disease and its treatment. Coping behaviors are the specific techniques a person selects to manage stress. A descriptive correlational research design was used to determine the nature and quality of social support, to examine the coping strategies, and to describe the relationship between social support and coping behaviors in women with breast cancer. The sample.consisted of 43 women ages 25 to 77 years who acknowledged their diagnosis of breast cancer, were 3 months to 21 years since the diagnosis, and received treatment in three ambulatory care clinics in a medical center in the Southeastern in the United States. An investigator-developed Demographic Form, the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire, and the Jalowiec Coping Scale were completed by each subject. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the study sample, the components of social support, and coping behaviors. Pearson's prdduct-moment cor~elations were calcul~ted to determine the direction and strength of the relationship between social support and coping behaviors. Family members were listed more frequently than any other source of support category. Only 4.7% of the subjects identified a health care provider in her support network. The subjects identified problem-oriented coping methods more frequently than affective-oriented coping methods. The most often indicated coping methods in this sample were prayer, maintaining hope, accepting the situation, and u~e of sleep. The research hypothesis that there is a positive .relationship between social support and coping behaviors in women with breast cancer was supported by the-findings. ·statistically significant correlations were identified between affectiveoriented and problem-oriented coping behaviors and the social support components of Total Functional Support and Total_Network.Support. For the purpose of increasing a patient's coping ability, a professional nurse should identify the amount and quality of support a patient receives, encourage family members and friends to visit and· communicate with the patient, and offer to serve as one of the patient's support network. These findings also suggest that it is ne~essary to introduce the concepts of social support and coping behaviors to nursing students early in their nursing education program.