Satisfaction with Social Support and Quality of Life Among Portuguese Patients with Breast Cancer: Mediating Effects of Coping Styles-Cross-Sectional Study

Background/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the mediating effects of coping styles on the relationship between satisfaction with social support (SSS) and quality of life (QoL) in breast cancer patients. Methods: A cross-sectional structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used to examine the mediating effects. The participants were 311 women who were breast cancer patients, aged between 27 and 86 years (M = 46.61, SD = 9.53). Results: SEM analyses showed that SSS was positively associated with fighting spirit (beta = 0.31, p < 0.05), cognitive avoidance (beta = 0.19, p > 0.05), and QoL (beta = 0.21, p < 0.05), and negatively associated with helplessness-hopelessness (beta = -0.28, p < 0.05). Furthermore, fighting spirit and helplessness-hopelessness showed significant relationships with QoL. Anxious preoccupation was negatively related to QoL. Furthermore, fighting spirit and helplessness-hopelessness showed significant relationships with quality of life (beta = 0.18, p < 0.05; beta = -0.15, p < 0.05, respectively). In addition, the mediation analysis revealed that coping styles (i.e., fighting spirit and helplessness-hopelessness) mediated the relationship between SSS and QoL. Conclusions: The findings suggest that perceptions of SSS from family and friends may promote perceived QoL via adaptive coping, such as fighting spirit and helplessness-hopelessness strategies to deal with the cancer experience.