Religiosity and Anxiety in Seriously Ill Cancer Patients

Abstract

The purpose of this study·was to investigate the relationship between religios1ty and anxiety in a group of hospitalized seri~us1y ill c~ncer patients. In order to determine this relationship·, the following research que~tions had to be answered:

What is the degree of religiosity in seriously .ill cancer patients? What is the degree of anxiety in seriously ill cancer patients? What is the degree 6f correlation between religiosity and anxiety in .seriously ill caric~r patie~ts? A convenience sample of 30 oncology patients--13 females and 17 males--betweeri the ages of 19 and 60 was utilized. Subjects were administered S~ith arid Apfeldorf's (1969) Religious Belief Questionnaire and the state anxiety (A-State) scale from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970). Pearson's correlatioh coefficient demonstrated no correlation between the variables. All subjects tested were found to be religious, yet their anxiety levels varied. The results of multiple regression analysis, however, suggested that: controlling for variables that could ;influence religiosity and anxiety might demonstrate a significant· correlation in a larger more randomly selected sample. Although this study did. nothing to resolve the controversy reported in the literature relating religiosity and anxiety~ suggestions for further research utilizing a multidimensional approach

can be made. Phenomena -such a~ age, sex, race, education levels, nursing .interventions, support ·sy"stem~, opportunity for spiritual expression, or stage of grief_can affect both anxiety and religiosity-levels and should be controlled in subsequent studies.