The Effect of Cognitive-Emotional Training on Post-traumatic Growth in Women with Breast Cancer in Middle East

Overcoming distresses and negative consequences of serious crises such as cancers can lead to perception of positive changes in the patients. It is necessary to design and test the psychological interventions that can improve post-traumatic growth. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of cognitive-emotional training on post-traumatic growth in women with breast cancer referred to the department of chemotherapy. This is a quasi-experimental study and it was performed on 85 patients with breast cancer who referred to an educational hospital in southeastern of Iran in 2017. The eligible patients were selected through convenience method sampling among the patients and they randomly allocated into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received five sessions of emotional-cognitive training in two sessions per week. Each session lasted 60-90min. The posttest data were collected by post-traumatic growth inventory (PTGI) 20weeks after the end of the last intervention session. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS software version 21.00 using independent t test, paired t test, and Chi-square tests for demographic analysis. The results indicated that there is no significant difference in both groups in terms of individual variables such as age, marriage, duration of disease, and degree progression of cancer. Although the mean of PTG scores in posttest and the mean of variations in the PTG scores in the intervention group were 77.48 +/- 11.18 and 25.81 +/- 12.24, respectively, and it was significantly higher than the control group, 53.95 +/- 14.86 and 7.69 +/- 9, respectively (mean scores of PTG: p<.0001; mean changes of PTG: p<.001). According to the results of this study, cognitive-behavioral intervention had a positive and significant effect on post-traumatic growth in women with breast cancer. If intervention is found to be effective, cognitive and emotional strategies of such interventions could be integrated into daily clinical practice as a way to promote PTG in women who are being treated for breast cancer.