Comparing the Effectiveness Cognitive-behavioral Therapy and Intensive Short- term Dynamic Psychotherapy in Reducing Death Anxiety

The present study aims to compare the effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) on death anxiety of women with breast cancer.

This is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test design. The study population includs all women suffering from breast cancer covered by the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation in Gorgan, Iran in 2021. Of these, 30 were selected and randomly divided into two intervention groups of CBT and ISTDP and one control group. Ghorbani’s death anxiety scale in Persian was used to measure death anxiety before and after the interventions. The intervention groups received the interventions at 11 sessions each for 90 minutes, while the control group put on the waiting list. Data analysis was performed by the analysis of covariance in SPSS v. 26 software.

 Both CBT and ISTDP were effective in reducing the death anxiety of patients (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between them (P>0.05).

CBT and ISTDP can reduce the death anxiety of women with breast cancer. There is no significant diffrence between them.