ABSTRACT
Mastectomy as a treatment for breast cancer can disturb marital satisfaction of many couples. In this way, existential anxieties stemming from this potentially deleterious event, and inefficient responses to them, could be mediating. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a rehabilitation method based on existential approach and Olson's marital enrichment model on marital satisfaction of women who had undergone mastectomy and their husbands. In this study, a single subject research design is used. The study population comprised couples who had referred to Radiotherapy department of Imam Hussein hospital in Tehran, that among them three couples whose average age was 20 to 50 years old, wife's had undergone mastectomy, tumor has not spread to other parts of the body, and had no prior history of psychiatric disorders before cancer, were selected through purposeful sampling and Intervention in 12 sessions of 90 minutes once a week, has been designed to suit their specific needs. The level of couple's marital satisfaction was evaluated using Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Comparing couple's scores on the diagram during 9 time measurement [3 times baseline, 4 times during intervention, and 2 times follow up assessment] and calculating recovery percentage, represent increasing in score of marital adjustment scale. So it seems that, this kind of an eclectic couple therapy, by considering couples existential anxiety, has been promoted their marital satisfaction. Explanations are given in discussion part
ABSTRACT
Some of the mothers of children with cancer suffer from reactive depression and confront existential crises, and benefit from their image of God in coping with it. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of spiritually-oriented cognitive therapy on reducing depression symptoms in mothers of children with cancer. A single case experimental design and an A-B form were used in this study. The participants were selected through purposeful sampling. We studied three of the mothers of children who had been admitted to the pediatric ward of 'Mofid Pediatric Hospital'. These children were aged under 12years; they suffered from any kind of cancer except brain tumor; cancer had not metastasized to other parts of the body; the mothers themselves had no history of psychiatric illness prior to their child's illness, and had mild to moderate depression at the time of screening. These mothers were subjected to spiritually-oriented cognitive therapy for 10 individual sessions, 90 minutes per week. The depression grade and the changes were measured with Beck Depression Inventory [BDI-II]. Comparing the mothers' scores through 8 times of completing the inventory [three at baseline, three during the therapy and two follow-ups], and calculating the percent of recovery showed a decrease in depression scores. It seems that spiritually-oriented cognitive therapy can enhance the spiritual experience and reduce depression in cognitive and existential contexts