Relationship between Perceived Stress, Coping Strategies, and Life Satisfaction among Women with Breast Cancer

Breast cancer (BC) can be a distressing experience, necessitating substantial life adjustments. That being the case, this study aimed to explore the connection among perceived stress, coping strategies, and life satisfaction in women with BC, as well as the demographic and disease-related factors.

A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Cancer Institute of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. A total of 372 women who met the inclusion criteria were selected through convenience sampling. The study utilized the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS-21), and Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), as well as demographic and disease-related characteristics. Data analysis was performed with SPSS 18.0.

The mean (standard deviation [SD]) of perceived stress and life satisfaction were 30.10 (8.7) and 13.86 (4.11), respectively, with emotion-oriented coping strategy being the most employed 24.13 (6.36). The results indicated a strong negative correlation between perceived stress (r = -0.484, p < 0.001) and the problem-oriented strategy (r = -0.203, p < 0.001). There was also a significant negative correlation between perceived stress and life satisfaction (r = -0.547, p < 0.001). However, a positive correlation was found between perceived stress and emotion-oriented strategy (p < 0.001). The regression analysis indicated that economic status was correlated with perceived stress, emotion-oriented strategy, and life satisfaction (β = -0.25, p < 0.001), (β = -0.18, p < 0.001), (β =0.30, p < 0.001). Additionally, occupation was found to predict problem-oriented strategy (β = -0.30, p < 0.001) and avoidance-oriented strategy (β = -0.18, p < 0.001).

These findings help identify psychological issues in women with BC and lead to effective interventions for mitigating stress, improving coping strategies, and life satisfaction.