Abstract

The aim of present study was to compare the effects of group-based cognitive-behavioural therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy on emotion regulation in women with breast cancer. For this purpose, this quasi-experimental design with pre-test-post-test and follow-up and with a control group was conducted. Using a convenience sampling method, 30 patients were randomly divided into two groups of intervention and control. Each intervention group received 10 sessions of acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive-behavioural therapy and a follow-up test was held after 2 months. The control group did not receive any treatment. The groups were tested for emotion dysregulation before and after the intervention. The results of multivariate analysis of covariance showed that both cognitive-behavioural therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy significantly reduced emotion dysregulation in women with breast cancer. In the experimental group, no significant difference was observed in levels of emotion dysregulation in post-test and follow-up stages. It seems that this therapy can be a good way to accelerate treatment and adaptation to this disease by targeting the mechanisms involved in emotion dysregulation in women with breast cancer.