Comparing the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Solution-focused Brief Therapy on Pain Catastrophizing and Psychological Well-Being of Patients With Breast Cancer

Breast cancer affects the various aspects of mental health, aggravates mental stress, and challenges the person’s mental health because of the disturbance in the mental image of the subjects. It can also affect the mental status of these individuals. 

The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) on pain catastrophizing and the psychological well-being of patients with breast cancer.

The present quasi-experimental study used a pretest-Post-test design with the control group. The statistical population of the present study included all patients with breast cancer referring to health centers and hospitals of Babol and Babolsar in 2018. A sample of 45 people was selected by a random sampling method, and 3 groups of 15 women with breast cancer were randomly divided into ACT, SFBT, and control groups. ACT and SFBT were performed for the experimental groups and no intervention was performed in the control group. To obtain the data, the pain catastrophizing scale and psychological well-being questionnaire were used. The data were analyzed by SPSS V. 23, using the multivariate analysis of covariance test.

ACT and SFBT affected the pain catastrophizing (F=47.01, P<0.001) and psychological well-being (F=79.34, P<0.001) of patients with breast cancer. The ACT was more effective than the SFBT (P<0.01).

Both the ACT and SFBT had a desirable effect on reducing pain catastrophizing and increasing psychological well-being in patients with breast cancer, but the ACT was more effective than the SFBT.