chronic illness

Introduction: Breast cancer affects the various aspects of mental health, aggravates mental stress, and challenges the person’s mental health because of the disturbance in the mental image of the subjects. It can also affect the mental status of these individuals. 
Objectives: The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) on pain catastrophizing and the psychological well-being of patients with breast cancer.
Materials and Methods: The present quasi-experimental study used a pretest-Post-test design with the control group. The statistical population of the present study included all patients with breast cancer referring to health centers and hospitals of Babol and Babolsar in 2018. A sample of 45 people was selected by a random sampling method, and 3 groups of 15 women with breast cancer were randomly divided into ACT, SFBT, and control groups. ACT and SFBT were performed for the experimental groups and no intervention was performed in the control group. To obtain the data, the pain catastrophizing scale and psychological well-being questionnaire were used. The data were analyzed by SPSS V. 23, using the multivariate analysis of covariance test.
Results: ACT and SFBT affected the pain catastrophizing (F=47.01, P<0.001) and psychological well-being (F=79.34, P<0.001) of patients with breast cancer. The ACT was more effective than the SFBT (P<0.01).
Conclusion: Both the ACT and SFBT had a desirable effect on reducing pain catastrophizing and increasing psychological well-being in patients with breast cancer, but the ACT was more effective than the SFBT.

Background & objectives: Psychological factors play a major role in the escalation and relapse. Because Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic disease which is the leading cause of many psychological problems. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on psychological distress, marital satisfaction and quality of life in women with multiple sclerosis.

Method: This research was a quasi-experimental and pretest-posttest study design using control group for follow up. Among all women with Multiple Sclerosis at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Iran, 24 MS patients with relapsing-remitting were selected through convenience sampling and they were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups respect to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Then, experimental group went under 8 treatment sessions of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. During this period, the control group did not receive any intervention. Both groups were evaluated before and after treatment and at follow-up with QOL questionnaire, psychological distress and marital satisfaction questionnaires. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and inferential statistics including mixed analysis of variance (p<0.01 meaningful level) using SPSS-22 statistical software.

Results: The mean age in the experimental and control groups respectively, were 30±9.64 and 29± 10.25 years, and the mean of infection in intervention and control groups respectively, were 5±6.61 and 4±6.12 years. Both groups of patients were married and had relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis. The results showed that average of variables such ad psychological distress, marital satisfaction and quality of life increased while; control group was not observed this trend. Also, mixed analysis of variance indicated that acceptance and commitment therapy resulted in a significant reduction in psychological distress, enhance the quality of life and marital satisfaction in women with Multiple Sclerosis, The effects lasted for up to three months after treatment.

Conclusion: According to the present study results and impact of psychological factors in process of MS, it is suggested that acceptance and commitment therapy should be used to improve the situation of women who suffering from Multiple Sclerosis.