Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Abstract
Background & Objectives: Breast cancer, as the most common cancer in women, can cause serious psychological complications such as anxiety and depression. This disease requires attention to the mental health of patients, especially after treatment. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is recognized as an effective approach for managing these psychological problems and can help reduce worries, thereby improving the quality of life for patients. Ultimately, research in this field helps to understand the psychological needs of these patients better and provides effective support solutions. As an effective approach to managing psychological problems, cognitive-behavioral therapy has positive effects on fear of cancer recurrence, body image, and disease-related concerns. This therapy helps patients recognize and change their negative and irrational thought patterns. These patterns may include thoughts about the disease recurring or a feeling of lack of control over their health. By changing these thoughts, patients can reduce their fears. So, the present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on worry about the disease and fear of recurrence in women recovered from breast cancer.
Methods: The present study employed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest approach, including both control and experimental groups. The statistical population included adult women who referred to hospitals in Tehran City, Iran, for annual check-ups in 2024 and received a diagnosis of recovery from breast cancer from a specialist physician within the past 1 to 4 years. Thirty women were selected using available sampling and randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 15) and a control group (n = 15). The inclusion criteria included no history of psychiatric disorders based on case records, an average age of over 20 years and a minimum education of a high school diploma, recovery from breast cancer between 1 and 4 years before the start of the study, no drug therapy or other psychological treatment at the time of diagnosis, and informed and voluntary consent to participate in the study. The exclusion criteria for the study also included the absence of more than three sessions, unexpected incidents such as serious physical injuries that may occur during the study, and lack of full cooperation in the study, including failure to complete the questionnaires correctly and accurately, as well as their distortion. The implementation process was as follows: after selecting the sample group and before starting the treatment program, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) (Meyer et al., 1990) and the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory (FCRI) (Simard & Savard, 2009) were distributed to both groups. After that, cognitive behavioral therapy was implemented on the experimental group (in the form of eight 90-minute sessions, each session once a week), and the control group was not subjected to any treatment program. After the sessions concluded, participants from both groups completed the questionnaires mentioned above again. The data from the study were analyzed using SPSS version 27 software and multivariate analysis of covariance at a significance level of 0.05.
Results: After controlling for the pretest effect, the results showed a significant difference between the posttest scores of the experimental and control groups in worry about illness and fear of recurrence (triggers, confusion, dysfunction, insight, confidence, and coping in interaction) (p<0.001).
Conclusion: According to the research results, cognitive-behavioral therapy helps women who have recovered from breast cancer feel more in control of their condition and effectively manage worry about the disease and fear of recurrence by changing negative thought patterns, increasing coping skills, and strengthening social support.