VOLUME 7 ISSUE 1 SPRING 2021

S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 7 - 1 S p r i n g 2 0 2 1 6 5 Mária DěDoVá 4 Discussion Posttraumatic growth is experience of positive changes occurring as a result of a fight with very difficult life crises. It can be shown in various ways, including increased appreciation for life, more meaningful interpersonal relationships, increased feeling of personal strength, changes in priorities and richer existential and spiritual life. Personality characteristics, social support, coping mechanisms and cognitive structures, which contribute to the processing of traumatic events play important role in the process of posttraumatic growth. It is an ongoing process, not a static result (Tedeschi and Calhoun 2004, 6). Experiencing of spirituality is one of the factors associated with posttraumatic growth. Results of the present study showed positive correlations between the importance of spirituality in lives of cancer survivors and overall posttraumatic growth, specifically relating to others, new possibilities, personal strength, and appreciation of life. Strong positive correlations were confirmed between the importance of spirituality and the dimension of spiritual change. The comparison of individual religious groups showed that Christian cancer survivors achieved higher levels of posttraumatic development as opposed to atheist patients. In this context, support of religious community (Lopez and Snyder 2011), attending services, spending time together with people with the same religious belief can play in important role in the support of posttraumatic growth. Experiencing of spirituality together with problem-oriented coping, positive reinterpretation, and optimism play an important role in the process of posttraumatic growth (Linley and Joseph 2004, 11). Christian cancer survivors achieved higher levels of posttraumatic growth in the domain of relating to others as Spiritual Change (PTG) Spiritual Change Dimension of PTG in Cancer Survivors Based on Religion 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Atheism Christianity Other Reformed

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