Selected Demographic and Temperamental Characteristics of Patients with Lung Cancer and Their Associations with Disease Acceptance, Negative Emotional Experiences, and Hope
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Internal Medicine and Internal Medicine in Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 7, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
- 2Department of Orthopaedic Oncology, Brzozów Specialist Hospital, Subcarpathian Oncology Centre, ul. ks. Bielawskiego 18, 36-200 Brzozów, Poland
- 3Institute of Health, The State University of Applied Sciences in Przemyśl, ul. Książąt Lubomirskich 6, 37-700 Przemyśl, Poland
- 4Department of Orthodox Theology, Faculty of Theology, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Abstract
Background/Objectives: A diagnosis of lung cancer can be accompanied by negative emotional experiences. This study aimed to explore relationships between selected sociodemographic and temperamental characteristics, 14 negative emotional states, disease acceptance (AIS), and hope (Snyder’s Hope Scale) in patients with lung cancer. Methods: The sample comprised 104 patients with lung cancer (52.88% male, 47.12% female; 57.69% aged 65 years or older). Measures included the AIS, Snyder’s Hope Scale, and an author-developed negative emotions questionnaire. Analyses included Spearman’s rank correlation, non-parametric tests, and exploratory hierarchical cluster analysis (UPGMA). Cluster stability was assessed using 1,000 random 80% subsamples; Jaccard distance was used as a sensitivity analysis. Results: Most patients (65.39%) reported moderate disease acceptance (mean AIS = 23.14 ± 8.29). Anger (57.69%) and helplessness/powerlessness (40.38%) were the most frequently endorsed emotions. Cluster analysis identified two groups differing primarily in the number and breadth of endorsed negative emotions. Cluster 1 comprised 75% of patients, whereas Cluster 2 comprised 25% and reported a greater variety of emotions. Cluster 2 had higher disease acceptance than Cluster 1 (AIS = 27.19 vs. 21.79; p = 0.004). Overall hope (mean = 25.89 ± 5.21) did not differ between clusters (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Disease acceptance may coexist with a broader range of negative emotional experiences and should not be understood simply as the absence of negative emotions. This exploratory finding requires confirmation using validated measures and longitudinal designs. Dispositional hope did not differ between groups, suggesting that hope and negative emotional experiences may represent distinct dimensions of psychological adaptation.
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BibTeX
@article{waleczko2026selected,
title = {{Selected Demographic and Temperamental Characteristics of Patients with Lung Cancer and Their Associations with Disease Acceptance, Negative Emotional Experiences, and Hope}},
author = {Agnieszka Waleczko and Bożena Baczewska and Beata Barańska and Dagmara Podgórska-Kowalczyk and Krzysztof Leśniewski},
journal = {Cancers},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3390/cancers18213575},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/18/21/3575},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Selected Demographic and Temperamental Characteristics of Patients with Lung Cancer and Their Associations with Disease Acceptance, Negative Emotional Experiences, and Hope
AU - Agnieszka Waleczko
AU - Bożena Baczewska
AU - Beata Barańska
AU - Dagmara Podgórska-Kowalczyk
AU - Krzysztof Leśniewski
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
JO - Cancers
DO - 10.3390/cancers18213575
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/18/21/3575
AB - Background/Objectives: A diagnosis of lung cancer can be accompanied by negative emotional experiences. This study aimed to explore relationships between selected sociodemographic and temperamental characteristics, 14 negative emotional states, disease acceptance (AIS), and hope (Snyder’s Hope Scale) in patients with lung cancer. Methods: The sample comprised 104 patients with lung cancer (52.88% male, 47.12% female; 57.69% aged 65 years or older). Measures included the AIS, Snyder’s Hope Scale, and an author-developed negative emotions questionnaire. Analyses included Spearman’s rank correlation, non-parametric tests, and exploratory hierarchical cluster analysis (UPGMA). Cluster stability was assessed using 1,000 random 80% subsamples; Jaccard distance was used as a sensitivity analysis. Results: Most patients (65.39%) reported moderate disease acceptance (mean AIS = 23.14 ± 8.29). Anger (57.69%) and helplessness/powerlessness (40.38%) were the most frequently endorsed emotions. Cluster analysis identified two groups differing primarily in the number and breadth of endorsed negative emotions. Cluster 1 comprised 75% of patients, whereas Cluster 2 comprised 25% and reported a greater variety of emotions. Cluster 2 had higher disease acceptance than Cluster 1 (AIS = 27.19 vs. 21.79; p = 0.004). Overall hope (mean = 25.89 ± 5.21) did not differ between clusters (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Disease acceptance may coexist with a broader range of negative emotional experiences and should not be understood simply as the absence of negative emotions. This exploratory finding requires confirmation using validated measures and longitudinal designs. Dispositional hope did not differ between groups, suggesting that hope and negative emotional experiences may represent distinct dimensions of psychological adaptation.
SN - 2072-6694
ER -