Comparison of the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Death Anxiety and Life Hope in Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

Purpose: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) on death anxiety and life hope in breast cancer patients. Methods and Materials: The statistical population of this study consisted of women aged 25 to 65 years diagnosed with breast cancer in Qazvin city in 2022. A total of 45 participants were selected using convenience sampling as the research sample. The research tools included the Death Anxiety Scale (Templer), Life Hope Questionnaire (Snyder), the ACT protocol (Hayes et al.), and the CBT protocol (Houghton et al.). The data were analysed with analysis of covariance and post-hoc tests through SPSS-26. Findings: The results of the Bonferroni test revealed that Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy significantly increased life hope in breast cancer patients more than Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (P<0.01). However, there was no significant difference between these two types of psychotherapy in terms of their effectiveness on death anxiety in breast cancer patients (P<0.784). Conclusion: Both Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy are effective and significantly impactful in breast cancer patients.