Stress Levels of the Cancer Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Roles of Self-Efficacy and Spiritual Exercises

During the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer patients, a vulnerable group, faced heightened stress along with the stress they experienced due to their ongoing condition. Previous research emphasized the importance of engaging in spiritual exercises in stress management. Furthermore, self-efficacy is recognized as a crucial variable in coping with stress. The current study aims to examine whether self-efficacy predicted stress levels in cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and explored whether performing spiritual exercises moderated this relation. Ninety-one cancer patients were recruited through the oncology departments of hospitals and social media channels of cancer-related solidarity associations. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis indicated that higher self-efficacy was associated with lower stress levels. However, engaging in spiritual exercises neither directly affected stress levels of the cancer patients nor moderated the relation between self-efficacy and stress. The association between stress levels and self-efficacy during periods of heightened health threats, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, holds significant implications for health psychologists and clinical psychologists who work with cancer patients. Understanding this relationship can inform targeted interventions and therapeutic strategies aimed at enhancing self-efficacy, which may, in turn, mitigate stress and improve overall psychological well-being in this vulnerable population. Future research is recommended to consider the significance attributed to spiritual practices and the duration of individuals’ engagement with these practices to yield more precise findings.