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. 2025 Jun;64(3):2152-2164.
doi: 10.1007/s10943-025-02256-z. Epub 2025 Jan 27.

Religious Coping Strategies of Mothers Who Lost Their Children to Cancer in Türkiye: A Qualitative Study

Ayfer Aydın  1 , Hülya Bingöl  2 , Rejin Kebudi  2 , Eyşan Hanzade Savaş  3 , Başak Koç  2 , Sema Büyükkapu Bay  2 , Ülkü Miray Yıldırım  2 , Bülent Zülfikar  2
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Religious Coping Strategies of Mothers Who Lost Their Children to Cancer in Türkiye: A Qualitative Study

Ayfer Aydın et al. J Relig Health. 2025 Jun.

Abstract

Perceptions of death can greatly impact the ability to cope with grief, making it either easier or unbearable. Research on the importance of religion and spirituality in the field of oncology, particularly among parents who have lost a child to cancer, is still in its emerging stage. This study aimed to describe the religious coping strategies of Muslim mothers who lost their children to cancer. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 mothers and analyzed the data using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings show that resignation to the 'Will of God', being more religious, and belief in life after death are common coping strategies used by mothers who are grieving the loss of their child. Mothers in pediatric oncology place great importance on religious coping strategies to manage their grief.

Keywords: Coping; End-of-life; Oncology; Pediatric; Qualitative; Religion.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ethical Approval: This study was one of the outputs of a research project that was approved by the Koç University Social Sciences Ethics Review Board on October 10, 2017, under the ethical approval number 2017.184.IRB3.093. During the ethical approval process, it was clearly stated that this project would result in multiple publications as part of its planned outputs. Each publication focuses on a specific aspect of the project to ensure comprehensive dissemination of the findings. Additionally, verbal consent was obtained from the mothers before the interview for recording.

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