The Comparative of Written Exposure Therapy (WET) Vs Mindfulness on Mental Adjustment and Quality of Life in women with Breast Cancer

Many breast cancer patients experience significant distress immediately following the completion of primary treatment. Women who report low levels of quality of life (QOL) early in this phase of transitional survivorship tend to experience diminished long-term adjustment. Therefore, the present study aims were to compare the effect of written exposure therapy and mindfulness on mental adjustment and quality of life, in women with Breast cancer.

Sixty females with breast cancer referred to the Shahid Rajaei Hospital in Babolsar, Iran were randomly assigned to one of the three WET (n = 20), MBSR (n = 20) or control (n = 20) groups. WET is a 5-session low-intensity exposure-based intervention for treating PTSD. MBSR is a systematic educational program during an 8-week period. The control group had no additional contact. measures assessing mental adjustment, quality of life were administered at baseline, post-intervention, and 2-month follow-up.

Both the WET and MBSR groups achieved significant improvement in mental adjustment to cancer and quality of life, with statistically significant differences between groups. However, no differences between the WET and MBSR groups were observed in the mental adjustment to cancer and quality of Life.

WET and MBSR may be a useful intervention for use women with breast cancer with poor quality of life and mental adjustment to cancer and may be an important adjunct to medical and pharmacological treatments. This study indicates further research in this area is warranted.