Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Acceptance and Post-Traumatic Growth in Colorectal Cancer Patients Comorbid with Stress

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common chronic diseases and the second most common cause of deaths from cancer in the world, which is associated with many physical and psychological complications. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of unified transdiagnostic treatment on psychological distress and meta-emotion beliefs in colorectal cancer patients comorbid with stress.

In the present experimental study with pretest, posttest, follow-up design, and a control group, 30 members of colorectal cancer patients comorbid with stress were selected using convenience sampling method. The experimental group received 8 unified transdiagnostic treatment sessions weekly while the control group received no treatment. Both groups were assessed in three phases: pretest, posttest, and a two-month follow-up. The assessment tools consisted of stress-anxiety-depression and meta-emotion scale. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS running Mann-Whitney U test.

Comparison of psychological distress [P <0.001, Z = -3 / 268], positive meta-emotion beliefs [P<0.001, Z= -3 / 432], and negative meta-emotion beliefs [P<0.001, Z= - 156.3] between the experimental and control groups revealed significant differences among pre-test, post-test, and follow-up.

It seems that unified transdiagnostic treatment can be effective in reducing psychological distress and improving the meta-emotion beliefs in colorectal cancer patients comorbid with stress.