Poster: Exploring the Impact of Spirituality, Hopelessness, Depression, and Anxiety on the Life Satisfaction of Individuals with a Terminal Illness more

Exploring the Impact of Spirituality, Hopelessness, Depression and Anxiety on the Life Satisfaction of Individuals Diagnosed with a Terminal Illness Conducted by Ryan Hale under the supervision of Dr Merce Prat-Sala Background Psychological factors and their impact on mental well-being is an important issue when it comes to understanding how individuals react to physical ailment. Sufferers of life-limiting illness are reported to express negative psychological consequences and the impact of these can have severe ramifications on the individual·s quality of life (Ogden, 2004; McClain, Rosenfeld & Breitbart, 2003). In defining what quality of life is, especially within a terminally ill population, Grant, Padilla, Ferrell and Rhiner (1990) argue that it can be expressed in terms of a subjective personal statement reliant upon a number of executive components, which as a result express the individual·s satisfaction in life. This suggests that life satisfaction is made up of several latent psychological concepts; which can either be beneficial or detrimental to an individual·s outlook on life. Mystakidou et al. (2007) aimed to investigate relationships between depression, hopelessness, spirituality, cognitive condition and pain in patients with advanced cancer. The participants of this study were recorded to have moderate depression and moderate hopelessness, all of which were significantly ¶affecting their enjoyment of life· (Mystakidou et al., 2007: 157), however life satisfaction was not measured directly. of this could lead to the successful implementation of effective future health policy, with ways of understanding which treatment or approach will be the most useful when working with palliative patients and how best to deal with requests for assisted suicide. H1: All variables will significant predictors of life satisfaction, but it is unclear which one will be the strongest. Methodology Sample and Design: 82 participants were recruited from private specialist counselling sessions, located in a local private hospital. Any participant who fit the criteria for selection (a diagnosis of a life-limiting illness, and the ability to give informed consent) were invited to participate in the study. The sample consisted of 44 males and 38 females, each from a varied mixture of religious backgrounds and levels of education. In RQ 1 & 2, the study follows a repeated measures design (participants completed a battery of 5 items (SWLS, BHS, DASS, FACIT-SWB12 )). In RQ 3 & 4, the study followed a 2 (group: gender/religious identity) x 5 (SWLS, BHS, DASS, FACIT-SWB12 ) mixed groups design. Procedure and Methods: Upon prior consent (a written signature), participants were asked to complete a battery of measurement which took a quantitative measure of the constructs under study, in which each of the scales reached a high level of internal consistency (a). Life satisfaction was measured on the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)(a: .87), hopelessness on the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) (a: .92), spirituality on the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACITSWB12) (a: .87), and depression and anxiety was measured on the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) (a: .92, .81 respectively). Extensive preparation took place to protect the participants at all costs, and British Psychological Society ethical guidelines were rigorously adhered to. Participants were given a debriefing form on the full or partial completion of the battery of measurement. RQ2: Pearson·s r correlation The analysis revealed that each of the constructs under study are significantly correlated with each other (at the p = <0.001 level). Spirituality & Life Satisfaction: +.50 Spirituality & Hopelessness: -.61 Spirituality & Depression: -.54 Spirituality & Anxiety: -.46 Hopelessness & Life Satisfaction: -.85 Hopelessness & Depression: +.75 Hopelessness & Anxiety: +.59 Depression & Life Satisfaction: -.72 Depression & Anxiety: +.58 Anxiety & Life Satisfaction: -.60 Therefore, H2 ² 11 are all supported Research Question 2: What are the relationships between the variables of the study? The current study will look at the associations between the psychological constructs under study, these will provide us some insight into the comorbidities experienced by terminally ill individuals. H2-11: The study is predicting correlations between: Spirituality Spirituality Spirituality Spirituality Hopelessness Hopelessness Hopelessness Depression Depression Anxiety Life Satisfaction Hopelessness Depression Anxiety Life Satisfaction Depression Anxiety Life Satisfaction Anxiety Life Satisfaction RQ3 + 4: MANOVA The analysis reveals that there is no significant gender difference within the sample of the study. So, H12 is rejected. The analysis reveals that there is no significant difference within religious identity within this sample of the population. So, H13 is also rejected. Conclusions & Future Research The picture that seems to be emerging from these results is that: ‡ All of the constructs under study are universal in the terminally ill population, and each has a high possibility of comorbidity with another. ‡ Hopelessness and Anxiety have a strong and profound effect on life satisfaction. ‡ The socio-demographic information of participants does not effect how satisfied in life one is, along with no strong influence in the predicting variables. Further research should adopt a structural equation modeling approach to the data, this should look at the indirect effects of the other variables on hopelessness and anxiety, which has a subsequent effect on life satisfaction.. Results RQ1: Multiple Regression Analysis The results of the first operationalized research question indicates that hopelessness and anxiety are significant predictors of an individual·s life satisfaction, whereas the other factors are not. Hopelessness: F (1, 80) = 206.9, p= <0.0001 r2 = .72, adj. r2 = .71, Beta= -.849 Hopelessness and Anxiety: F (2, 79) = 764.2, p= <0.0001 r2 = .73, adj. r2 = .73, Beta= -.756, -.157 (Blue represents a positive correlation, red represents a negative one) Research Question 3 & 4: Does Gender and Religion Influence What Effects Life Satisfaction? An appreciation of the socio-demographic issues involved in the affecting constructs of terminal illness, will lead to a richer understanding of the motivation behind the first research question. With the first aim laying down the foundations of what factors are the most prevalent in terminal illness, and plans for effective interventions, the findings of these research questions will lay down a deeper knowledge base of how certain socio-demographic factors can influence life satisfaction and its predictive constructs. H12: There is a gender difference in life satisfaction and its influencing constructs? H13: Religious identity affects life satisfaction and its influencing constructs? Figure 1: Model depicting the different psychological constructs and their relationship with life satisfaction, corresponding with the current research aims. Aims & Research Questions Research Question 1: What contributes the most to life satisfaction? The aims of the current study will look to expand the work of Mystakidou et al. (2007), by first examining spirituality, depression, hopelessness and anxiety, and developing this by looking at their associations to an individual·s life satisfaction. An appreciation RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2011 H1: Therefore, the hypothesis suggesting that all constructs will be significant predictors of life satisfaction can be rejected. The data analysis confirms that only hopelessness and anxiety are strong predictors, and the rest of the variables are excluded from the regressive model. References Grant, M., Padilla, G., Ferrell, B., & Rhiner, M. (1990). Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 6, 260-270. McClain C. S, Rosenfeld B., Breitbart W. (2003). Effect of spiritual well-being on end-of-life despair in terminally ill cancer patients. Lancet, 361:1603 1607 Mystakidou, K., Tsilika , E., Parpa, E., Pathiaki, M., Patiraki, E., Galanos, A., & Vlahos, L.. (2007). Exploring the relationships between depression, hopelessness, cognitive status, pain, and spirituality in patients with advanced cancer. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 21(3):150-61. Ogden, J. (2004). Health Psychology: a Textbook. London: OUP w w w.PosterPresentations.com