Ways of Coping with Stress in Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer: A Preliminary Study

Background: Cancer diagnosis causes a range of different emotions. It is also a factor that causes feelings of severe stress. Coping with stress is individual and depends on the person's nature, environment, and support they receive. Aim: This study aimed to assess how women diagnosed with breast cancer cope with stress caused by the disease. Methods: A total of 111 women diagnosed with breast cancer participated in the study. The questionnaires were distributed electronically using Google Forms in online forums and groups on social media. The survey consisted of two parts: the original questions and the Mini-COPE questionnaire. The relationships between stress-coping strategies and age, having children, marital status, and life satisfaction were tested. The Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Dunn's post-hoc test with Bonferroni correction were used for the analyses (p < 0.05). Results: Of the surveyed women, 54.9% reported that the moment of diagnosis was the most stressful. Feelings of fear and anxiety accompanied 30.5% of the women, and 24.7% at the time of diagnosis could not provide information about the disease. The dominant strategies were seeking emotional support (mean 2.12 ± 0.56) and seeking instrumental support (mean 2.06 ± 0.48). Women in the older age group, married women, and women with children were most likely to adopt the strategy of turning to religion. Conclusions: The dominant strategies were seeking emotional and instrumental support. The strategy of turning to religion was used more often by older patients and patients with children.