Comparing the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Hope Therapy on Pain Anxiety and Self-Acceptance in Patients with Leukemia

 Leukemia is one of the most prevalent types of cancer that can also result in severe psychological damage. The current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and hope therapy on pain anxiety and self-acceptance in patients with leukemia.

 The current study was a semi-experimental research with a pre-test and post-test design and the control group. The statistical population of the current study, which included 167 individuals, comprised all of the patients with leukemia who were sent to the Princess Noorah Oncology Center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in the year 2020. Twenty individuals were divided into three groups using simple random sampling: the ACT group, the hope therapy group, and the control group. The Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale (PASS) developed by McCracken et al. to assess anxiety related specifically to pain was used throughout this study. We also used the Chamberlain and Haaga Unconditional Self-Acceptance Questionnaire (USAQ) to measure unconditional self-acceptance levels. Using the SPSS software, a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to analyze the data.

 The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of pain anxiety in the ACT group decreased from 78.49 ± 6.83 in the pre-test to 53.67 ± 5.41 in the post-test (P < 0.001). In the hope therapy group, it decreased from 79.18 ± 6.32 in the pre-test to 66.46 ± 5.89 in the post-test (P < 0.001). The mean ± SD of self-acceptance in the ACT group increased from 62.39 ± 6.14 in the pre-test to 93.57 ± 7.64 in the post-test (P < 0.001); in the hope therapy group, it increased from 63.21 ± 6.32 in the pre-test to 89.72 ± 7.53 in the post-test (P < 0001), but the mean ± SD of both variables in the pre-test and post-test of the control group showed no significant difference. In addition, the Bonferroni post-hoc test revealed that the ACT approach had a stronger impact than the hope therapy (P < 0.01).

 According to the findings of this study, patients with leukemia who participated in either ACT or hope therapy experienced a significant improvement in their ability to accept themselves and experience less anxiety and discomfort as a result of their treatment. However, the effects of ACT were greater than those of hope therapy.