Illness perception and affective symptoms in gastrointestinal cancer patients: A moderated mediation analysis of meaning in life and coping.

Objective: The character of the mediational relations between illness perception and affective symptoms often depends on the coping strategies used by patients. For example, these relationships may be moderated by meaning in life that plays a buffering role against the negative consequences of cancer. This study examined moderated mediation effects of meaning in life and coping on the relationship between illness perception and affective symptoms in cancer patients.

Methods: In this cross-sectional research, 317 gastrointestinal cancer patients who were undergoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or combined therapy treatments were examined. They completed measures of illness perception, affective symptoms, meaning in life, and coping. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and the PROCESS macro.

Results: Illness perception was negatively associated with meaning in life and problem- and meaning-focused coping but was positively associated with affective symptoms: fear, depression, and irritability. Two coping strategies-problem- and meaning-focused-mediated the relationship between illness perception and affective symptoms. Meaning in life turned out to be a moderator of the indirect effects of illness perception on affective symptoms through problem- and meaning-focused coping.

Conclusions: The relationship of illness perception with affective symptoms is embedded in moderated mediation effects of meaning in life and coping. It implies that emotional adjustment to the illness depends on the interplay between the ways in which cancer patients perceive their illness and the coping strategies used by them.