Owoyemi Praise, Denyse Tammie, Pageot Yrvane K, Martin Kimberly J, DeLuz K Denise, Kim Jacqueline H J, Stanton Annette L
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Carrie's TOUCH, Sacramento, California, USA.
Psychooncology. 2025 Jan;34(1):e70085. doi: 10.1002/pon.70085.
Black women generally report high levels of spirituality. Less is known about Black women's spiritual coping with a cancer diagnosis. Persisting health disparities between Black breast cancer survivors and other racial groups necessitate examining whether spirituality can be a contextual and personal resource for Black women with breast cancer.
This qualitative study's goals were to: (1) characterize positive and negative dimensions of spirituality in a sample of Black women diagnosed with breast cancer; and (2) examine whether and how women used spirituality during their cancer experience.
Three Gatherings (i.e., culturally curated focus groups) were conducted as part of Project SOAR (Speaking Our African American Realities), a community-academic partnership. In these all-Black women Gatherings, participants (N = 37) discussed their breast cancer experience, including how spirituality played a role.
Through reflexive thematic analysis, six themes were identified: (1) faith is central to my identity even through challenging times; (2) meaningful, ineffective, or non-existent support from my spiritual community; (3) grappling with spiritual discontent during breast cancer; (4) God is omnipotent; (5) spiritual anchors helped me persevere through the breast cancer journey; (6) breast cancer reflections enhanced my spiritual gratitude and growth.
Participants' experiences highlight the complexities of spirituality when confronting breast cancer. Many Black women reflected on the centrality of spirituality to their lives and cited spirituality as a resource and effective coping process during their cancer experience. Findings have important implications for understanding how spirituality can be incorporated to support Black women with breast cancer.
黑人女性普遍报告称自己具有较高的精神性。关于黑人女性在癌症诊断中进行精神性应对的情况，人们了解得较少。黑人乳腺癌幸存者与其他种族群体之间持续存在的健康差距，使得有必要研究精神性是否可以成为患有乳腺癌的黑人女性的一种背景性和个人性资源。
这项定性研究的目标是：（1）描述被诊断患有乳腺癌的黑人女性样本中精神性的积极和消极维度；（2）研究女性在癌症经历中是否以及如何运用精神性。
作为“大声说出我们非裔美国人的现实”（SOAR）项目（一个社区与学术合作项目）的一部分，举办了三次聚会（即经过文化策划的焦点小组）。在这些全由黑人女性参加的聚会中，参与者（N = 37）讨论了她们的乳腺癌经历，包括精神性如何发挥作用。
通过反思性主题分析，确定了六个主题：（1）即使在艰难时期，信仰也是我身份认同的核心；（2）来自我的精神社区的支持有意义、无效或不存在；（3）在乳腺癌期间与精神上的不满作斗争；（4）上帝是无所不能的；（5）精神支柱帮助我在乳腺癌治疗过程中坚持下来；（6）对乳腺癌的反思增强了我的精神感恩和成长。
参与者的经历凸显了面对乳腺癌时精神性的复杂性。许多黑人女性反思了精神性对她们生活的核心意义，并将精神性视为她们在癌症经历中的一种资源和有效的应对过程。研究结果对于理解如何将精神性纳入以支持患有乳腺癌的黑人女性具有重要意义。
