Abernethy and authors define lung cancer as a common disease that often advances rapidly and leads to death.  Spouses of cancer patients often function as the primary caregivers and therefore face significant physical, social, and emotional demands. Since anticipating a spouses death may create as much psychological distress as the actual loss, it is not surprising that spouses of cancer patients are vulnerable to depression (Abernethy 2002).

Religion represents one potential influence on emotional well-being in spouses of cancer patients (Abernethy 2002). Religious coping refers to the use of religious beliefs or practices to cope with stressful life circumstances. Examples of religious coping include prayer, seeking comfort in one's faith, and obtaining support from members of a church. Older persons commonly use religious beliefs and practices to cope with their health problems and other developmental issues (Abernethy 2002).

In this articles study, 96% of adults in the United States believe in God or a deity, 90% pray, and 43% attend church weekly or more often (Abernethy 2002).