Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Anxiety, Perceived Stress, and Pain Coping Strategies in Patients with Cancer

Background: Cancer is one of the main and basic dilemmas of health and treatment all around the world. The purpose of this study was the comparison of the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on anxiety, perceived stress, and pain coping strategies in patients with cancer.

Methods: The methodology of the current study was of practical, semi-experimental, and pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of this study included all patients with leukemia who were hospitalized between April and June 2019 in Sayed Al Shohada Hospital, Isfahan, Iran, and their disease was confirmed. The study sample included 45 people who were selected from the mentioned population using convenience sampling and were assigned to the 3 groups of ACT (n = 15), CBT (n = 15), and control group (n =15) through simple randomization method. Data were collected using the Perceived‏ ‏Stress Scale (PSS‎) (Cohen et al., 1994), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (Beck et al., 1991), and Coping Strategy Questionnaire (CSQ)‎ (Rosenstiel and Keefe, 1985). Data analysis was conducted using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS software.

Results: The results showed that CBT and ACT were effective on decreasing anxiety and perceived stress, and increasing pain coping strategies in patients with cancer. ACT was more effective than CBT on anxiety, perceived stress, and pain coping strategies.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that CBT and ACT are effective on anxiety, perceived stress, and pain coping strategies and can be used for patients with cancer.