Hope in Advanced Cancer Patients in the Terminal Phase of Neoplastic Disease and Stability of Basic Mood

Abstract

The aim of this research is to compare the hope experienced by advanced cancer patients in the terminal phase of neoplastic disease in relation to the stability of their basic mood. The study group consisted of 246 patients, average age 59.5. The youngest respondent was 18 and the oldest was 90. The diagnostic tools used in the work comprised the Personal Card designed by T. Witkowski (PC) and an NCN-36 test (Block’s Hope test), designed by B.L. Block to measure the strength of hope in people struggling with serious life-threatening diseases. The test consists of 4 subscales distinguished by factor analysis. Each subscale consists of 8 items. The test allows an evaluation of hope in the following dimensions: situational dimension (health, thelic-temporal dimension), goals to be achieved in the future, spiritual dimension (spirituality), religious beliefs, and emotional-motivational (affective) dimension (motivations). In cheerful patients who are in the terminal phase of cancer, mood stability does not constitute a major differentiating factor for experiencing hope. In sad people, on the other hand, mood stability affects the intensity of hope—those with an unstable mood are more likely to have a stronger emotional-motivational dimension of hope than sad people with a balanced mood.