Startseite A Qualitative Longitudinal Study on the Adaptation and Coping Strategies of Men with Testicular Cancer
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A Qualitative Longitudinal Study on the Adaptation and Coping Strategies of Men with Testicular Cancer

  • Bianka Karlíková ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Branislav Uhrecký ORCID logo und Jitka Gurňáková ORCID logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 14. Februar 2025
Human Affairs
Aus der Zeitschrift Human Affairs Band 35 Heft 3

Abstract

Research suggests that the experience of cancer is diverse rather than homogeneous. The strong emotions and stress associated with cancer lead to a search for coping strategies. Men with different types of cancer utilise physical, psychological, interpersonal, and spiritual strategies. Despite the research, the specific adaptation and coping strategies used by men with testicular cancer have rarely been studied. We focused on the adaptation and coping strategies of newly diagnosed patients (n = 17) with testicular cancer in Slovakia. For this purpose, we conducted a longitudinal qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews before, during and after chemotherapy. The verbatim transcribed interviews were analysed using ideal type analysis with a focus on typology formation and trajectory analysis in narrative approaches. The main types of psychological adaptation and strategies were grouped into 4 trajectories: the psychological barrier between the self and the illness as a coping mechanism; realistic optimism; meaning-making; and the complicated process of adaptation. The differences in adaptation were related to the patients’ emotional state before the disease, previous unprocessed life events, a death in the family during treatment, but also to the metastatic nature of the disease or the recurrence of testicular cancer. These results can help healthcare providers identify those at higher risk for complicated adaptation.

Keywords: adaptation; coping strategies; chemotherapy; longitudinal qualitative research; testicular cancer patients
Corresponding author: Mgr. Bianka Karlíková, Institute of Experimental Psychology, Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 841 04 Bratislava, Slovakia, E-mail:

Funding source: the European Regional Development Fund project “Systematic public research infrastructure - Biobank for cancer and rare diseases

Award Identifier / Grant number: 313011AFG5

  1. Research ethics: The Ethics Committee of the National Cancer Institute in Bratislava and the Ethics Committee of the Centre for Social and Psychological Sciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences have approved this study. The procedures used in this study are in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

  2. Informed consent: Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.

  3. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

  4. Data availability: The data supporting the results of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/humaff-2024-0103).

Received: 2024-10-18
Accepted: 2025-01-26
Published Online: 2025-02-14
Published in Print: 2025-07-28

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. The Four Causes Revisited: A Scholastic Framework for Analyzing Human Affairs
  4. A Qualitative Longitudinal Study on the Adaptation and Coping Strategies of Men with Testicular Cancer
  5. The Review of Female’s Intrasexual Competition of Birth and Motherhood in Digital Media
  6. Farmer-Herder Crises, Uncivil Discourses and the Politics of Nigeria’s Security Responses
  7. The Journey of Interest: Philosophical and Ethical Development from Ancient Rejection to the Modern Financial Crisis
  8. On the Need to Rethink the Way We Understand Growth: Media Evidence on Economic Growth as an Empty Signifier
  9. Understanding Predictors of Trust in Science Among University Students: Examining Scientific Reasoning, Cognitive Reflection, Education, and Personal Experiences with the Scientific Community
  10. The Moderating Role of Gender in Perceived Discrimination Levels and Political Participation of Turkish Women
https://doi.org/10.1515/humaff-2024-0103
Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel
adaptation; coping strategies; chemotherapy; longitudinal qualitative research; testicular cancer patients

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. The Four Causes Revisited: A Scholastic Framework for Analyzing Human Affairs
  4. A Qualitative Longitudinal Study on the Adaptation and Coping Strategies of Men with Testicular Cancer
  5. The Review of Female’s Intrasexual Competition of Birth and Motherhood in Digital Media
  6. Farmer-Herder Crises, Uncivil Discourses and the Politics of Nigeria’s Security Responses
  7. The Journey of Interest: Philosophical and Ethical Development from Ancient Rejection to the Modern Financial Crisis
  8. On the Need to Rethink the Way We Understand Growth: Media Evidence on Economic Growth as an Empty Signifier
  9. Understanding Predictors of Trust in Science Among University Students: Examining Scientific Reasoning, Cognitive Reflection, Education, and Personal Experiences with the Scientific Community
  10. The Moderating Role of Gender in Perceived Discrimination Levels and Political Participation of Turkish Women
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