Bibliotherapy for Resilience: ‌Investigating the Effect of Twelve Archetypes on Teenagers with Cancer at Behsat Hospital, Hamedan

Initially, bibliotherapy was used to address emotional issues in adults. However, in the second half of the 19th century, its theoretical and practical foundations expanded significantly. Nowadays, bibliotherapy is recognized as an effective strategy for treating clinical problems. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of an  experimental Bibliotherapy for resilience, and so investigate the effect of twelve archetypes on teenagers with cancer at Behsat Hospital, Hamedan.

 This research employed a semi-experimental design, utilizing a pre-test and post-test approach. The target population consisted of teenagers aged 10 to 14 undergoing chemotherapy for cancer at Besat Hospital in Hamedan. A sample of 30 cancer-afflicted teenagers was randomly selected, ensuring homogeneity in terms of age, duration of illness, socioeconomic status, and other variables. The sample was divided into two groups: a control group of 15 individuals and an experimental group of 15 individuals. The research utilized two questionnaires to measure resilience (Conner and Davidson, 2003) and life expectancy (Schneider, 2006). The resilience questionnaire had 25 items that are scored on a five-level Likert scale from completely agree to completely disagree. The validity of this questionnaire was confirmed by six experts and its reliability was obtained using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.89. The life expectancy questionnaire has 12 items and 3 components and is implemented as a self-assessment. Out of these 12 items, four items measure operative thinking, four items measure strategic thinking, and four items contain deviant questions. This questionnaire includes two subscales of factor and strategy, and its purpose is to evaluate the level of life expectancy in people. The scoring method of this questionnaire is based on a five-level Likert scaleThe experimental group participated in eight sessions of bibliotherapy intervention using a storytelling skill plan. The therapist researchers used three books as guides: "Living with Chronic Pain: An Acceptance-Based Approach" and its therapist's guide and patient workbook by Kevin Wells and John Sorrell (2013), "Pain Control Practical Guide: A Positive Attitude to Adapting to Chronic Pain" by Michael Nicholas (2014), and "The Hero's Awakening" by Patricia Addson (2014). Data analysis was conducted using independent t-tests and analysis of covariance in SPSS statistical software.

 The results of the independent t-tests revealed a significant difference in mean scores for resilience and life expectancy between the control and experimental groups. Moreover, the bibliotherapy intervention had a 43.6 percent effect on life expectancy and a 64.1 percent effect on resilience among teenagers with cancer.