Determining the Effectiveness of Compassion-Based Therapy on Family Functioning and Happiness in Women with Breast Cancer

Cancer is a general term for a large group of diseases affecting any body part. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and can have profound effects on the various functions of women in life. In Iran, 16% of all cancers in both men and women are related to breast cancer, and it ranks first among Iranian women and causes profound emotional problems in them. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of compassion–based therapy on family functioning and happiness in women with breast cancer. Breast cancer is a chronic disease; its diagnosis and treatment are accompanied by many psychological problems, increasing the need for psychological support. Cancer patients are worried about their survival. They are in pain, and this can seriously affect their mental state.

This research is quasi–experimental, using a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of this study included all female patients with breast cancer referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in 2019–2020. According to the records, 250 women had breast cancer. Among them, using an available sampling, 30 people were randomly selected and assigned to the experimental and control groups (each group consisting of 15 people). The inclusion criteria comprised being a woman, having breast cancer, committing to participate in therapy sessions, having a minimum level of diploma education, and not participating at the same time in other psychological treatment interventions. The exclusion criteria also included absence for more than three sessions from the intervention program and non–observance of the rules of the treatment group. After choosing the sample group and before starting the treatment program, the Family Assessment Device (Epstein et al., 1983) and Couples Happiness Inventory (Azrin, Naster, and Jones, 1973) were distributed among the two groups. After that, the diagnosis–based treatment program was performed on the experimental group (8 sessions of 90 minutes, once a week), and the control group did not receive any treatment program. In the end, the posttest was performed again from both groups. Also, after the end of the research, the treatment program was implemented for the control group to maintain ethical standards. Data analysis was performed in two sections: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. At the level of descriptive statistics, frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and inferential statistics, multivariate analysis of covariance were used. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software version 24, and the significance level of the tests was considered to be 0.05.

The results showed that the effect of compassion–based therapy on family functioning and happiness in women with breast cancer was significant (p<0.001).

It can be said that compassion–based therapy is one of the therapies of the third wave generation of psychological therapies that have been able to improve the family functioning and happiness of women with breast cancer.