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Comparison of the Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Quality of Life of Women with Breast Cancer
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Samin Shahhoseini   , Mohammad reza Bayat * , Mohsen Nazarifar |
| Department of Psychology, An.C., Islamic Azad University, Andimeshk, Iran , Mr.bayat1354@iau.ac.ir |
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Abstract: (10 Views) |
Background : Women with breast cancer face numerous physical, psychological, social, and economic challenges that can substantially impair their quality of life. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in improving the quality of life of women with breast cancer. Methods: This study employed a quasi-experimental design with pretest, posttest, a control group, and a two-month follow-up. The study population consisted of all women with breast cancer who attended hospitals in Tehran, Iran, during 2025. A total of 45 participants who met the inclusion criteria were recruited using convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to three groups (n = 15 each): an Emotion-Focused Therapy group, an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group, and a control group. Following the pretest assessment, participants in the two intervention groups received eight 90-minute sessions of their respective psychological interventions, whereas the control group received no intervention. Posttest and two-month follow-up assessments were subsequently conducted. Quality of life was measured using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Data were analyzed using mixed-design analysis of variance (mixed ANOVA) with SPSS version 26.
Results: The findings demonstrated that quality-of-life scores increased significantly in both the Emotion-Focused Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy groups compared with the control group from pretest to posttest and follow-up (p ≤ 0.05). However, no statistically significant difference was found between the two intervention groups in terms of treatment effectiveness.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that both Emotion-Focused Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy are effective in improving the quality of life of women with breast cancer. Therefore, mental health professionals, particularly psychotherapists working with patients diagnosed with cancer, are encouraged to incorporate these evidence-based interventions into clinical practice to enhance patients' psychological well-being and quality of life. In addition, healthcare policymakers and administrators are encouraged to improve access to evidence-based psychological services for women with breast cancer.
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| Keywords: Emotion-Focused Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Quality of Life, Breast Cancer. |
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Type of Study: Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing |
Subject:
behavioral sciences
Received: 2026/08/2 | Accepted: 2026/09/16 | Published: 2026/10/2
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