Effect of Narrative Therapy on Happiness and Quality of Life in Women with Breast Surgery Experience: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Mastectomy causes psychological problems for women. Reducing their happiness and quality of life. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of narrative therapy on happiness and quality of life in women with breast surgery experience.

The study was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test and follow-up with the control group design. The study population included all mastectomized women in Esfahan who were undergoing radiation therapy in 2019. Thirty persons meeting the inclusion criteria were selected by cluster sampling. The subjects were randomly divided into the intervention (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. The intervention group received narrative therapy over 8 sessions of 1.5 hours (2 months, one session per week) as a group, according to the White and Epston treatment program. The control group did not receive any intervention. Members in both groups responded to the 29-item Oxford Happiness Questionnaire and the sf-36 before, after and 4 months after the intervention. Data were analyzed with repeated-measures analysis of variance.

The baseline mean ± SD scores for happiness and quality of life for the experimental group were 36.3±3.1 and 39.5±4.7 4.7, respectively, and those for the control group were 36.0±3.2 and 41.1±3.8 (P>0.05). Narrative therapy significantly increased happiness (44.2±2.4) and quality of life (50.2±5.3) of women with breast surgery experience compared with the control group (happiness: 37.8±4.3 and quality of life 41.2±3.8) (P<0.001). In the follow-up phase, the effect of narrative therapy on happiness (44.3±2.2) and quality of life (50.2±5.0) was lasting (P<0.001).

Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that narrative therapy has increased happiness and quality of life in women with breast surgery experience.