acceptance of illness

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy and Existential Therapy in reducing death anxiety and increasing illness acceptance among patients with cancer in remission. Methods and Materials: This applied study used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest-follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of patients with common cancers in remission who referred to hospitals in Tehran during 2025–2026. Using purposive sampling, 45 eligible participants were selected and randomly assigned to Compassion-Focused Therapy, Existential Therapy, and control groups, with 15 participants in each group. Both intervention groups received eight 90-minute weekly sessions, while the control group received no psychological intervention. Data were collected using the Templer Death Anxiety Scale and the Acceptance of Illness Scale. The data were analyzed in SPSS version 26 using repeated-measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc comparisons at a significance level of 0.05. Findings: Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant effects of time, group, and time-by-group interaction for death anxiety and illness acceptance (p < 0.001). Bonferroni comparisons indicated that both Compassion-Focused Therapy and Existential Therapy significantly reduced death anxiety and increased illness acceptance compared with the control group (p < 0.001). Compassion-Focused Therapy produced a significantly greater reduction in death anxiety than Existential Therapy (MD = 1.79, SE = 0.41, p < 0.001), whereas Existential Therapy produced a significantly greater increase in illness acceptance than Compassion-Focused Therapy (MD = 2.30, SE = 0.46, p < 0.001). The improvements were maintained at follow-up. Conclusion: Both Compassion-Focused Therapy and Existential Therapy were effective in improving psychological adjustment among patients with cancer in remission; however, Compassion-Focused Therapy was more effective in reducing death anxiety, whereas Existential Therapy was more effective in increasing illness acceptance.

هدف: این پژوهش با هدف مقایسه اثربخشی درمان مبتنی بر شفقت و درمان وجودی در کاهش اضطراب مرگ و افزایش پذیرش بیماری در بیماران مبتلا به سرطان در مرحله بهبودی انجام شد. روش‌ها و مواد: این مطالعه کاربردی با طرح نیمه‌آزمایشی پیش‌آزمون-پس‌آزمون-پیگیری با گروه کنترل انجام گرفت. جامعه آماری شامل بیماران مبتلا به سرطان‌های شایع در مرحله بهبودی بود که در سال‌های ۲۰۲۵ تا ۲۰۲۶ به بیمارستان‌های تهران مراجعه کردند. با استفاده از نمونه‌گیری هدفمند، ۴۵ شرکت‌کننده واجد شرایط انتخاب و به طور تصادفی در سه گروه درمان مبتنی بر شفقت، درمان وجودی و کنترل (هر گروه ۱۵ نفر) گمارده شدند. هر دو گروه مداخله، هشت جلسه هفتگی ۹۰ دقیقه‌ای دریافت کردند و گروه کنترل هیچ مداخله روان‌شناختی دریافت نکرد. داده‌ها با استفاده از مقیاس اضطراب مرگ تمپلر و مقیاس پذیرش بیماری جمع‌آوری شد. تحلیل داده‌ها با نرم‌افزار SPSS نسخه ۲۶ و با استفاده از تحلیل واریانس اندازه‌گیری مکرر و مقایسه‌های پس‌آزمون با اصلاح بونفرونی در سطح معناداری ۰٫۰۵ انجام گرفت. یافته‌ها: تحلیل واریانس اندازه‌گیری مکرر اثرات معنادار زمان، گروه و تعامل زمان و گروه را برای اضطراب مرگ و پذیرش بیماری نشان داد (p < 0.001). مقایسه‌های بونفرونی نشان داد که هر دو درمان مبتنی بر شفقت و درمان وجودی به طور معناداری اضطراب مرگ را کاهش و پذیرش بیماری را نسبت به گروه کنترل افزایش دادند (p < 0.001). درمان مبتنی بر شفقت کاهش معنادار بیشتری در اضطراب مرگ نسبت به درمان وجودی ایجاد کرد (MD = 1.79, SE = 0.41, p < 0.001)، در حالی که درمان وجودی افزایش معنادار بیشتری در پذیرش بیماری نسبت به درمان مبتنی بر شفقت داشت (MD = 2.30, SE = 0.46, p < 0.001). این بهبودها در مرحله پیگیری نیز حفظ شد. نتیجه‌گیری: هر دو درمان مبتنی بر شفقت و درمان وجودی در بهبود سازگاری روان‌شناختی بیماران مبتلا به سرطان در مرحله بهبودی مؤثر بودند؛ با این حال، درمان مبتنی بر شفقت در کاهش اضطراب مرگ و درمان وجودی در افزایش پذیرش بیماری اثربخشی بیشتری داشتند.

Aim The aim of the study was to assess the level of life satisfaction of forensic psychiatry patients and to identify selected demographic and clinical factors related to life satisfaction, with particular emphasis on illness acceptance. Material and methods The study included 121 patients hospitalized in four forensic psychiatry departments. Life satisfaction was assessed using the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and illness acceptance using the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS). The relationship between SWLS scores and age and AIS scores was analyzed, as well as differences in SWLS scores based on gender, duration of hospitalization, psychiatric diagnosis, and pharmacotherapy regimen. Spearman’s rank correlation, Student’s t-test, one-way ANOVA, and the Mann-Whitney U test were used depending on the type of variables. A nominal significance level of α = 0.05 was adopted. No p-value correction was applied due to multiple testing. Results The mean SWLS score was 19.82 ± 7.50 points. The study group showed varied levels of life satisfaction. After converting the results to the sten scale, 39.7% of participants achieved results corresponding to a low level of life satisfaction, 26.4% - an average level, and 33.9% - a high level. The mean AIS score was 28.06 ± 7.70 points; low level of illness acceptance was found in 10.7% of participants, average in 47.1%, and high in 42.1%. There were no statistically significant differences in SWLS scores depending on gender (p = 0.412), psychiatric diagnosis (p = 0.951), pharmacotherapy regimen (p = 0.930), or duration of hospitalization (p = 0.211). There was no statistically significant correlation between the SWLS score and age (rho Spearman’s ratio = -0.166; p = 0.068). However, a weak positive correlation was observed between the AIS score and the SWLS score (rho Spearman’s α = 0.215; p = 0.018), statistically significant at the nominal level of α = 0.05. Conclusions of life satisfaction were found among the patients included in the study. The largest group consisted of participants classified as low (39.7%), but the differences in numbers between categories did not indicate a clear dominance of one category over the other. In the study group, the most common levels of illness acceptance were medium (47.1%) or high (42.1%). There was no statistically significant correlation between SWLS scores and age, nor were there any statistically significant differences in SWLS scores based on gender, psychiatric diagnosis, pharmacotherapy regimen, or length of hospitalization. However, a weak positive correlation was observed between illness acceptance and life satisfaction, significant at the nominal level of α = 0.05. The cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow for conclusions about a causal relationship between these variables. The results suggest the validity of considering illness acceptance in further studies on life satisfaction in forensic psychiatric patients.