The Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy on Self-Conscious Affect, Illness Perception, and Mental Rumination in Breast Cancer Patients
Downloads
Objective: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on self-conscious affect, illness perception, and mental rumination in breast cancer patients.
Methods and Materials: 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.
Findings: Findings showed that emotion-focused therapy positively and significantly improved self-conscious affect, illness perception, and mental rumination (P<0.05).
Conclusion: 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.
Downloads
Almeida, S. N., Elliott, R., Silva, E. R., & Sales, C. M. D. (2022). Emotion-focused therapy for fear of cancer recurrence: A hospital-based exploratory outcome study. Psychotherapy, 59(2), 261. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000389
Borstelmann, N. A., Gray, T. F., Gelber, S., Rosenberg, S., Zheng, Y., Meyer, M., Ruddy, K. J., Schapira, L., Come, S., Borges, V., Cadet, T., Maramaldi, P., & Partridge, A. H. (2022). Psychosocial issues and quality of life of parenting partners of young women with breast cancer. Supportive Care in Cancer, 30(5), 4265-4274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-022-06852-7
Bravo, A. J., Kelley, M. L., Mason, R., Ehlke, S. J., Vinci, C., & Redman, J. C. (2020). Rumination as a mediator of the associations between moral injury and mental health problems in combat-wounded veterans. Traumatology, 26(1), 52. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000198
Chin, J. H., & Mansori, S. (2019). Theory of planned behaviour and health belief model: Females' intention on breast cancer screening. Cogent Psychology, 6(1), 1647927. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2019.1647927
Chow, S. C. (2011). Sample size calculations for clinical trials. Wiley interdisciplinary reviews: Computational statistics, 3(5), 414-427. https://doi.org/10.1002/wics.155
Crowe, E., Staiger, P. K., Bowe, S. J., Rehm, I., Moulding, R., Herrick, C., & Hallford, D. J. (2023). The association between trichotillomania symptoms and emotion regulation difficulties: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.11.010
Dewi, R., Letchmi Panduragan, S., & Umar, N. S. (2023). The relationship between self-efficacy and coping mechanisms with quality of life in Breast Cancer patients. KnE Social Sciences, 278-289. https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v8i14.13837
Hanetz Gamliel, K., Dollberg, D. G., & Levy, S. (2018). Relations between parents' anxiety symptoms, marital quality, and preschoolers' externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(12), 3952-3963. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1212-3
Hissa, J., Connolly, A., Timulak, L., & Hession, N. (2020). Emotion-focused perspective on breast cancer patients' experiences of comorbid anxiety and depression: a qualitative case analysis of three clients' in-session presentations. Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies, 19(2), 134-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/14779757.2020.1717988
Johnson, S. M. (2019). Attachment theory in practice: Emotionally focused therapy (EFT) with individuals, couples, and families. Guilford Publications. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-34837-000
Lee, H., & La, I. S. (2024). Association between health literacy and self-management among middle-aged women: A systematic review. Patient Education and Counseling. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2024.108188
Lingens, S. P., Schulz, F., Müller, I., Schulz, H., & Bleich, C. (2021). Associations between self-efficacy, distress and anxiety in cancer patient-relative dyads visiting psychosocial cancer support services: using actor-partner interdependence modelling. PLOS ONE, 16(9), e0255318. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255318
Power, A. (2023). Making sense of contented couples-insights from attachment theory and emotionally focused couple therapy (EFT). Attachment, 17(1), 10-26. https://doi.org/10.33212/att.v17n1.2023.10
Rahimzadegan, S., Basharpour, S., Mikaeili, N., & Narimani, M. (2022). Relationship between post-traumatic growth and illness perception and emotion regulation in patients with cancer. Clinical Neuroscience Journal, 9, e16. https://doi.org/10.34172/icnj.2022.16
Resurrección Mena, D., Navas-Campaña, D., Gutiérrez-Colosía, M. R., Ibáñez-Alfonso, J. A., & Ruiz-Aranda, D. (2021). Psychotherapeutic interventions to improve psychological adjustment in type 1 diabetes: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010940
Shakery, M., Mehrabi, M., & Khademian, Z. (2021). The effect of a smartphone application on women's performance and health beliefs about breast self-examination: a quasi-experimental study. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 21(1), 248. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-021-01609-4
Sung, H., Ferlay, J., Siegel, R. L., Laversanne, M., Soerjomataram, I., Jemal, A., & Bray, F. (2021). Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 71(3), 209-249. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21660
Tsantakis, V., D, D., Kontzoglou, K., & Nikiteas, N. (2023). The effect of time since reconstruction on breast cancer patients' quality of life, self-esteem, shame, guilt, and pride. Palliative & Supportive Care. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951523000445
Yang, H. F., Chang, W. W., Chou, Y. H., Huang, J. Y., Ke, Y. F., Tsai, P. F., Chan, H. M., Tsai, H. Y., Tseng, H. C., Chang, S. T., & Lee, Y. C. (2023). Effectiveness of multimedia courses in improving self-care among patients with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy. Radiation Oncology, 18(1), 115. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13014-023-02312-6
Yu, C. C., Chu, C. Y., Lai, Y. H., Hung, C. T., Chan, J. C., Chen, Y. J., Hsu, H. T., & Lee, Y. H. (2023). Reaffirming adverse events related to lung cancer survivors' target therapies and their apparent effects on fear of cancer progression, anxiety, and depression. Cancer Nursing, 46(6), 488-495. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCC.0000000000001147
Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Body, Mind and Culture
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
