The Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy on Self-Conscious Affect, Illness Perception, and Mental Rumination in Breast Cancer Patients

Paying attention to the psychological issues of cancer patients can improve their condition. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on self-conscious affect, illness perception, and mental rumination in breast cancer patients. The research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test, control group, and six-month follow-up. From the entire population of breast cancer patients in District 15 of Tehran, 30 individuals were selected using convenience sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Questionnaires used included the Self-Conscious Affect Questionnaire (Tangney et al., 1989), the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Broadbent et al., 2006), and the Ruminative Responses Scale (Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991). The experimental group underwent emotion-focused therapy for eight 90-minute sessions. Post-tests were conducted for both groups, and data were analyzed using covariance analysis. Covariance results showed that emotion-focused therapy positively and significantly improved self-conscious affect, illness perception, and mental rumination (P<0.05). The results of the present study indicated that emotion-focused therapy could be appropriate for the psychological health of breast cancer patients by improving self-conscious affect, illness perception, and mental rumination.