Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Integrated Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (MiCBT) on Body Image and Emotional Regulation in Mastectomy Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Women with breast cancer often face many psychological problems after mastectomy, especially difficulties in regulating body image attitudes and emotions, which necessitate therapeutic attention. Consequently, this study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-integrated cognitive behavioural therapy on emotion regulation difficulties and body image in mastectomy patients.

This study was a randomized clinical trial.  The population included all patients undergoing mastectomy in Tehran in 2022.  Convenience sampling was adopted in selecting 24 patients from three hospitals (Modares, Moheb Yas, and Hazrat Rasool Akram), psychotherapy clinics, and social media. The participants (n=24) were divided into two groups of equal size-one experimental and one control group. The two groups were assessed at three different times: pre-test, post-test, and two-month follow-up. The questionnaires used in this study were the Body Image Scale (BIS, Hopwood et al. 2001) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS, Gratz & Roemer 2003). Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS-25 software. Frequency, mean, and standard deviation were reported for descriptive statistics, and repeated measures analysis of variance was used for inferential statistics.

Findings showed that MiCBT significantly improves body image and emotion regulation difficulties in mastectomy patients. Significant effect sizes were reported for emotion regulation difficulties (η²=0.59, p≥0.01) and body image (η²=0.55, p≥0.01).

In combination with medications, MiCBT can be used to improve emotional problems and body image in mastectomy patients.