Comparing the Effects of Islamic Spiritual Therapy and Stress Inoculation Training on Distress Tolerance and Anxiety of Patients With Stomach Cancer

This study was conducted to assess the effects of Islamic spiritual therapy compared to cognitive-behavioral therapy based on stress inoculation training (SIT) on distress tolerance and anxiety sensitivity in patients with stomach cancer.

This research was a quasi-experimental study based on a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The research population included patients with stomach cancer in Ardabil City, Iran in 2021. Sixty individuals were selected through convenience sampling and randomly divided into three groups (two experimental groups and one control group). The measurement tools were Simon and Gaher's distress tolerance scale and the Anxiety sensitivity index by Floyd et al., which were administered to all three groups before the group intervention and at the end of the tenth session. The first experimental group was exposed to Islamic spiritual therapy, the second test group received SIT and the control group did not receive any psychological treatment. Covariance analysis was used to analyze the data.

The results of multivariate covariance analysis showed that the Islamic spirituality therapy and SIT had a significant effect on distress tolerance and anxiety sensitivity compared to the control group. However, Islamic spiritual therapy was more effective in improving distress tolerance (F=445.940) and reducing anxiety sensitivity (F=65.502) compared to the SIT group (P≤0.01).

It appears that the combination of Islamic spiritual therapy with SIT, despite its emphasis on irrational thoughts, is less effective than Islamic spiritual therapy alone in reducing negative thoughts.