Evaluation of the impact of social support on mental adjustment to cancer during palliative or radical treatment

Background: Adjustment to cancer can be treated as a particular form of coping strategies. Social support is a factor which can play a role as a buffer against difficult situations and stress. The aim of the study was to evaluate the relation between the subjective evaluation of different dimensions of social support and the constructive or destructive adaptive style of coping in cancer patients in palliative or radical treatment.

Material and methods: The study involved 89 cancer patients who were treated palliatively (60 patients) or radically (29 patients). Two self-report tools were used: the Mental Adjustment to Cancer Mini-MAC and Berlin Social Support Scales (BSSS).

Results and conclusions: The examined groups of patients differ in terms of the relations between particular dimensions of social support and their influence on the use of constructive or destructive coping strategies in adjustment to cancer. For the adjustment to cancer, it is not particularly essential how the patient evaluates the actually received social support, but how they perceive its availability in an emergency situation. In both examined groups, the influence of perceived available social support on adjustment to illness is different. A stronger positive influence can be seen in the group of patients in palliative treatment, in whom it relates to the use of constructive coping strategies. In patients in radical treatment, it is connected with a lower tendency to the use of destructive coping strategies.