On line prayer helps beat cancer

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison say breast cancer patients who pray in online support groups achieve a brighter mental outlook while going through their ordeal.

“This is the first study we are aware of that examines the psychological effects of this behaviour,” says Bret Shaw, an associate scientist in UW-Madison’s College of Engineering and lead author of the study.

Nearly 100 breast cancer patients were surveyed before accessing the online prayer groups, then again four months later. Text messages within the computer-mediated support groups were analysed using a text analysis software program, which measured the percentage of words that were suggestive of religious belief and practice (eg pray, worship, faith, holy, God).

Researchers found that writing a higher percentage of these religious words within the online support groups was associated with lower levels of negative emotions and higher levels of self-efficacy and functional well being, even after controlling for patients’ pre-test levels of religious beliefs.

Bret Shaw said that “from a psychological standpoint, there are a variety of reasons why cancer patients may benefit from prayer, whether on the Internet or elsewhere. In reviewing the messages, some of the most common ways study participants used religion to cope with their illness included putting trust in God about the course of their illness and consequently feeling less stressed, believing in an afterlife and therefore being less afraid of death, finding blessings in their lives and appraising their cancer experience in a more constructive religious light”.

Results of the study are published in an advance issue of the journal PsychoOncology. The project was funded by the National Cancer Institute.