Cancer

The consequences of cancer do not just impact on the body only, but expands into the other levels of human existence, including psychological levels. Sometimes these consequences are even more painful and more destructive than physical harms, especially in children. Therefore, the use of psychotherapy for children, particularly art-based psychotherapies, is necessary. So, the main objective of the present research was to develop a new family-based art therapy for hospitalized children with cancer and to evaluation its effectiveness on the symptoms of depression (DEP) and pain anxiety (PA). Five hospitalized children with cancer, participated in this single-subject study (A-B type) accompanied with their mothers. The intervention was applied in eight sessions (30-60 minutes per session). Children’s depression and pain anxiety were measured repeatedly in two phases and data were analyzed by graphs and tables. The effect size (ES) and reliable change index (RCI) are also reported in addition to the customary values. The results showed that family-based art therapy was significantly effective in reducing the symptoms of depression and pain anxiety in all of the children. The findings indicate the effectiveness of family-based art therapy in helping to modify the psychological consequences of cancer, and clarify the need for this approach to be applied in similar conditions.

Background & Objective: The majority of cancer patients have a poor quality of life. It seems mindfulness-based cognitive group therapy can improve quality of life in these patients. Therefore this study was conducted with the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive group therapy in improving quality of life among patients with cancer. Materials & Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental research conducted by pre- and post-testing. The sample population consisted of 30 cancer patients selected by purposive sampling and randomly placed in two groups of experimental and control (15 individuals per group). All subjects completed the quality of life questionnaire in the two stages of pre-test and post-test. The findings were analyzed by the SPSS software and multivariate analysis of covariance tests. Results: The results showed that there is a significant difference between the control and the experimental group and that mindfulness-based cognitive group therapy had a significant effect in improving quality of life in the members of the experimental group (p< 0/01). Conclusion: According to the results, it can be proposed that it is necessary for therapeutic centers and support forums related to refractory patients to use mindfulness-based cognitive group therapy in their plans to improve patients’ quality of life.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of painting therapy in reducing emotional- behavioral problems (internalized problems: anxious - depressed, withdrawn-depressed, somatic complaints, and externalized problems: aggressive behavior and rule-breaking behavior) of Children with cancer. Method: The research design was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest and control group with follow-up. Using targeted sampling, 40children (6 to 12-year-old) with cancer, whose score on the Child Behavior Check List (CBCL) was one standard deviation above average, was selected and randomly divided into two groups of experiment (n = 20) and control (n = 20), but due to the drop in the number of subjects, it decreased to 31 (16 experimental group and 15 control group). The painting program was performed on the experimental group in the form of 8 two-hour sessions. To analyze the data, the mixed variance analysis method was used. Results: The results showed that although the overall score of the internalized and externalized problems was significantly reduced, painting therapy didn’t affect the somatic complaints (of internalized problems) and the rule-breaking behavior (of externalized problems). Conclusions: The results showed that painting therapy can be an effective way to reduce the emotional-behavioral problems of children with cancer. Therefore the findings of this study can have preventive clinical applications.

Introduction: Quality of life (QOL) in cancer patients is more important than only being alive. In all types of the cancers because of disease, course of treatment and also complication of treatments, directly and indirectly patients’ QOL will change. So finding a way to improve QOL of cancer patients is one of the priority of our health system. One effective way is improvement of sense of coherence (SOC) which is one of the component of salthogenic medicine. In this research we want to know how much influence SOC has on QOL in cancer patients, in a systematic review. Methods and material: We aimed to do a systematic review so in our literature search strategy, we searched in some databases, such as pubmed, scopus, cochrane, web of science and Embase. Then appropriate studies in title, inclusion and exclusion criteria, were selected and their mark in Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) criteria. 8 studies remained for us for our study. Then we extract the data and synthesis the results. Results: In this review, in most of the studies there was a strong association between SOC and QOL, but some confounders such as age, stage of cancer,… can increase or decrease the degree of this association. The differences between the kinds of questions in different questionnaires maybe made these differences. Conclusion: Taken together, there is a moderate correlation between SOC and QOL and some another factors can have effect on both of our variables .SOC can change cross sectional, so, we should do more research to find the factors that can improve the SOC in cancer patients.

Introduction: the role of cognitive, metacognitive and metaemotional factors in psychological distress has been clearly confirmed. The current research study aims to examine a psychological distress model based on intolerance of uncertainty and emotional schemas of cancer patients with the mediating role of metacognitive beliefs and cognitive avoidance. Method: regarding the methodology, the present study relies on correlation and structural equation modeling. The study sample included 300 cancer patients who visited various hospitals in Tehran and completed the questionnaires of uncertainty intolerance, stress, depression and anxiety, emotional schemas, metacognitive beliefs, and cognitive avoidance. Results: findings demonstrated that the proposed model has appropriate fitness among cancer patients. Also, the relationship between mediating variables and endogenous and exogenous variables is significant. The variables under investigation explained 46 percent of psychological distress variance in the patients. Conclusion: Psychological distress in cancer patients is affected by interaction of excessive emotional states, intolerance of uncertainty, such as metacognitive beliefs and emotional schemas.

Objectives: Adherence to treatment and cancer coping self-efficacy are key components in the management of cancer disease. This study aimed at examining the structural pattern of personality traits of cancer patients on treatment adherence and cancer coping self-efficacy mediated by social support. Method: The method of the present study was descriptive and the research design was correlational based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population included all female patients with breast cancer who were referred to Shahid Rahimi Hospital for follow-up treatment, among whom 300 were selected using the convenience sampling method. Then, they completed the research questionnaires, including five personality traits, Self-efficacy appropriate medicine use scale, Cancer Behavior Scale, and Social Support Therapeutic Outcomes questionnaire. The research data were analyzed using AMOS statistical software. Results: The results showed that there was a significant relationship between personality traits, adherence to treatment, cancer self-efficacy, and social support. The results of structural equation modeling showed a good fit of the model with the experimental data and the general hypothesis of the research was confirmed. Personality traits have a significant positive effect on adherence to cancer treatment and self-efficacy. Also, personality traits mediated by social support showed a negative and significant relationship with adherence to treatment and cancer self-efficacy. Conclusion: This study showed the effective role of social support in the outcome of social and individual measures to increase adherence to treatment and cancer self-efficacy in patients with breast cancer.

Introduction: Given the importance of screening as one of the health behaviors in cervical cancer, the aim of this study is to develop and evaluate the psychometric characteristics of Cervical Cancer Screening Behavior Scale (CCSBS). Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 376 women who referred to Javaheri Health Center during the study period due to health problems, were selected through convenience sampling method. Then, the scale was developed and its content and face validities were examined. To ensure divergent and convergent validity, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used. Internal consistency method (Cronbach's alpha) was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the construct validity of the CCSBS and SPSS and LISREL software were applied for analyzing data. Results: The findings of this study provided strong supports, which confirmed the content and face validities. Regarding the convergent and divergent validity, perceived vulnerability, perceived severity and deterioration, and perceived barriers have a direct and significant relationship with the three variables of depression, anxiety, and stress. On the other hand, perceived motivation had a significant inverse correlation with all three variables of depression, anxiety, and stress. Additionally, perceived self-efficacy had a significant inverse correlation with depression. The results of the Cronbach's alpha indicated the appropriate internal consistency of the whole questionnaire and its components. Cronbach's alpha for the whole questionnaire was 0.78. According to confirmatory factor analysis, the goodness of fit indicators of proposed model was confirmed and the paths were significant. Conclusion: CCSBS is a reliable and valid tool for measuring the screening behavior of cervical cancer in Iranian women and it appears to be a comprehensive and useful tool for assessing women's beliefs related to cervical cancer and cervical cancer screening.