Spiritual needs and satisfaction with life: an exploration of mediating pathways

This study aims to examine the specific pathways through which spiritual needs are associated with satisfaction with life, focusing on the mediating roles of perceived quality of care and satisfaction with care among cancer patients.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with participants from four outpatient hematology/oncology clinics. Path analyses tested hypothesized relationships between spiritual needs and satisfaction with life, focusing on the mediating roles of perceived care quality and satisfaction with care.

A total of N = 727 participants were recruited, with a mean age of 59.0 years; the majority were female (n = 483; 67.8%). Path analysis supported a serial multiple mediation model: higher spiritual needs were indirectly associated with lower satisfaction with life via lower perceived quality of care and reduced satisfaction with care. Specifically, greater spiritual needs were linked to lower perceived quality of care (Fig. 1c: spiritual needs quality of care; b = -0.73, p < 0.001), which was associated with lower satisfaction with care (quality of care satisfaction with care; b = 0.26, p < 0.001) and in turn, with lower satisfaction with life (satisfaction with care satisfaction with life; b = 0.40, p < 0.001).

Higher spiritual needs were indirectly associated with lower satisfaction with life through a sequential pathway involving reduced perceptions of quality of care and lower satisfaction with care. Addressing spiritual needs and concerns in clinical settings may, therefore, play a critical role in improving both care experiences and psychosocial outcomes for cancer patients.