Secular Existential Meaning-Making Coping Among Cancer Patients in Portugal: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

For understanding the role of culture in coping in different cultural settings, we have conducted studies among cancer patients in 10 countries, within the framework of an international study on meaning-making coping. This article reports on part of the results we obtained from a study in Portugal; specifically, the reported findings are restricted to nonreligious/spiritual coping methods, methods we call secular existential meaning-making coping. The main aim is to identify the diversity of coping methods using a cultural lens. Thirty-one participants with various kinds of cancer were interviewed. Six different kinds of coping methods related to secular existential coping emerged from thematic analyses of the interviews: discourse of the self, positive solitude, nature, positive transformational orientation, body–mind relationship, and working. Findings revealed that these six methods facilitated patients’ psychological adaptation to the oncological disease. The findings suggest the importance of considering cultural and social context when exploring coping strategies among cancer patients.