The role of objectiveversusperceived life threat in the psychological adjustment to cancer

Illness appraisal, religious coping, and psychological responses in men with advanced cancer

“…According to the model of Lazarus and Folkman [9], appraisal of a threatening situation is more strongly associated with psychological distress than the objective event itself. Consistent with this hypothesis, Laubmeier and Zakowski [43] found that the perceived threat to life was related to psychological distress among cancer patients but not to disease stage. This pattern of results suggests that oncologists may have communicated their prognoses to patients (either explicitly or implicitly), influencing patient appraisal of being near the end of life and affecting their distress.…”

The existential plight of cancer: meaning making as a concrete approach to the intangible search for meaning

“…To explain these variations, researchers suggest that the degree of distress experienced by the patient is not related to the objective prognosis indicated by the histological stage of cancer but rather to the appraisal of life threat that is associated with cancer [43]. Meaning theory posits that people hold a "global meaning" which is a personalized life schema built upon a set of beliefs and assumptions to provide a sense of order and purpose in life [53,60].…”

Being in safe hands: Patients’ perceptions of how cancer services may support psychological well‐being

“…Significant literature has explored the extent to which individual characteristics can ameliorate the negative aspects of treatment (Burton, Galatzer‐Levy, & Bonanno, ; Johansson, Rydén, Ahlberg, & Finizia, ). This has typically focused on diagnosis and the early treatment period and has been informed by coping models that incorporate an appraisal process e.g., Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (Ahadi, Delavar, & Rostami, ; Hulbert‐Williams, Morrison, Wilkinson, & Neal, ; Laubmeier & Zakowski, ). Whilst acknowledging that coping is a dynamic process which varies over time and in response to different stressors, these studies highlight a range of active coping strategies consistently associated with reduced psychological distress and improved well‐being (Hopman & Rijken, ; Merluzzi et al., ; Ng, Mohamed, Sulaiman, & Zainal, ).…”