Effect of acceptance and commitment-based training on difficulty in emotion regulation and health in women with breast cancer: A clinical trial study

The mental health of cancer patients impaired by suffering, future worriness, and fear of death. This study was conducted to determine the effect of acceptance and commitment based training on the difficulty of emotion regulation and mental health in women with breast cancer.

In this clinical trial study, 30 female patients with breast cancer were randomly divided into control and intervention groups (n=15). The intervention group received 8 sessions of 90 minutes of acceptance and commitment procedures. Before and after the treatment and two months there after, all participants were evaluated and compared with the Gratz-Romer 2004 and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28).

Emotion regulation score in the intervention group was singnificantly reduced from 113.52±4.16 to 104.67±3.96 (P<0.05). Emotion regulation score remained low in the intervention group in the follow up period (104.17±3.58); but the mean in the control group did not show any significant reduction. In the intervention group after the treatment, the total score of mental health reduced from (46.81±4.21) to (33.18±3.39) (P<0.05). This score was 33.12±3.33 in the follow-up period in the intervention group; but no significant reduction was observed in the control group.

Acceptance and commitment technique training can improves mental health and emotion regulation in women with breast cancer.