Comparison of the Effectiveness and Effective Stability of Integrative Transdiagnostic Treatment and Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Psychological Well-Being and Pain Perception in Cancer Patients in Isfahan, Iran

The process of cancer and its treatment has effects on patients, so that the physical and mental function of the patient is reduced. In this regard, the use of therapeutic approaches to improve mental health problems caused by the disease has been identified and presented. Considering the repetition of other therapeutic strategies and the variety of psychological problems of patients with cancer, lack of use of two strategies of integrated transdiagnostic treatment and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) in the group of patients with cancer, and the impact of a person's cognitive skill on maintaining mental health, the purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of integrated transdiagnostic treatment and DBT in psychological well-being and pain perception of patients with cancer

The design of this quasi-experimental study was pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all patients with cancer in Isfahan, Iran, in 2021. The study sample consisted of 63 patients with cancer who were selected by the available sampling method and randomly assigned to three experimental and control groups. Research data were collected using McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) and Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale and analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) in SPSS software.

Integrated transdiagnostic and DBT education was effective in improving pain perception and psychological well-being of patients with cancer in the experimental group compared to the control group. Moreover, there was a significant difference between the two educational strategies (integrated transdiagnostic and DBT) in the post-test for variable of pain perception (P = 0.58 and P = 0.42, respectively) and for the psychological well-being variable (0.27 and 0.17, respectively). In the follow-up phase, it was obtained as 0.58 and 0.43 for the pain perception variable and 0.30 and 0.17 for the psychological well-being variable (P < 0.01). Integrated transdiagnostic treatment has been more effective in the psychological well-being and pain perception of patients with cancer.

Integrated transdiagnostic treatment and DBT lead to increased psychological well-being and improved pain perception in patients, and health professionals can use this treatment method to improve the psychological performance of patients.