Psycho-Emotional and Personal Spheres of Cancer Patients in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background. The relevance of the research is due to the continuing threat of the spread of new strains of infectious diseases, which increases the emotional burden of cancer patients and may contribute to their personal, psycho-emotional, and value-meaning transformations. Objective. The aim is to study the features of the psychological symptomatic status, personal characteristics and value-meaning orientations of cancer patients in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and out of it. Study Participants. 300 cancer patients were examined in the period from January 2022 to November 2024 on the basis of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “NMRC of Oncology” of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (Rostov-on-Don). Methods. Theoretical analysis, psychodiagnostics (SCL-90-R, 5PFQ, test of life sense orientations by D.A. Leontiev, “Value orientations” by M. Rokich), and statistical research methods (MANOVA, post-hoc). Results. The personal characteristics of cancer patients in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic were characterized by more pronounced maladaptivity. A study of the life-meaning orientations of cancer patients in the context of a pandemic has shown that they have an internal conflict. The value orientations of cancer patients in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and outside it differ, but their psychoemotional characteristics do not. Conclusions. The results obtained expand the existing understanding of the peculiarities of the psycho-emotional and personal spheres of a person in the presence of life-threatening diseases.