Effectiveness of Integrated TransDiagnostic Group Therapy in Reducing Symptoms of Chronic Pain, Depression, and Anxiety among Cancer Patients

 Cancer is usually caused by malfunctioning of regulatory mechanisms of cell growth and division, and this malfunction itself is caused by genetic damage that is often caused by chemicals, hormones, and sometimes viruses. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of integrated transdiagnostic group therapy in reducing the symptoms of chronic pain, depression, and anxiety among cancer patients.

 The present research method was semi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design, and a control group. For this purpose, 62 cancer patients were selected from the treatment centers for cancer patients according to the objectives of the research and the study inclusion criteria, and were randomly divided into two control and experimental groups. The tools used in this research were the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck ‎Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (McCracken, Vowles, & Eccleston, 2004‎), which was completely optional. The research data were analyzed using analysis of covariance in SPSS software at a significance level of 0.05.

 The results obtained from the data analysis showed that the integrated transpersonal treatment significantly reduced the symptoms of depression (F = 129.05; P < 0.01), anxiety (F = 20.94; P < 0.01), and chronic pain (F = 123.65; P < 0.01).

 These findings indicate that the components affecting the mechanism of action in integrated transdiagnostic treatment can have a significant effect on reducing the level of chronic pain symptoms and depression and anxiety in cancer patients through the modification of emotional and cognitive systems.