The relationships between fear of cancer recurrence, spiritual well‐being and psychological resilience in non‐metastatic breast cancer survivors during the COVID‐19 outbreak

Koral, Lokman; Cirak, Yalcin

OBJECTIVES: This study examines the relationships between fear of cancer recurrence (FCR), spiritual well‐being (SWB) and psychological resilience in breast cancer survivors during the COVID‐19 outbreak, and investigates to what extent breast cancer survivors’ sociodemographic characteristics affect FCR, SWB and psychological resilience levels. METHODS: The study was conducted at Canakkale University Hospital in Turkey. Included in the study were 82 non‐metastatic breast cancer patients whose clinical outcomes were followed‐up after primary treatment, but suspended due to the COVID‐19 outbreak. FCR, SWB and psychological resilience were assessed using the FCR inventory‐short form (FCRI‐SF), SWB scale and the brief resilience scale (BRS), respectively. RESULTS: The mean scores of breast cancer survivors concerning FCR, SWB, and psychological resilience were 17.77 ± 5.38, 36.20 ± 6.21 and 20.01 ± 4.51, respectively. A significant negative correlation was noted between the scores of FCR and SWB and psychological resilience (r = −0.329, p < 0.001 and r = −0.316, p = 0.004, respectively). Additionally, a significantly positive correlation was identified between psychological resilience and SWB (r = 0.501, p = 0.003). A hierarchical linear regression analysis with FCRI‐SF as the dependent variable, and SWB and BRS as explanatory variables, indicated that SWB affects FCRI‐SF scores and is a potential predictor of FCR. A mediation analysis revealed that SWB partially mediated the relationship between psychological resilience and FCR. CONCLUSION: Breast cancer survivors with high SWB and psychological resilience scores experience less FCR, despite their failure to maintain the medical follow‐up due to the COVID‐19 outbreak. Efforts should be made to increase the psychological resilience and SWB of patients diagnosed with breast cancer.