Comparison of the Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Sexual Self-Efficacy in Women with Breast Cancer

Background: Breast cancer is a disease, and the suffering women are at risk of experiencing disease-related turmoil and pressures. Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy in sexual self-efficacy among women with breast cancer. Methods: This semi-experimental study was conducted based on a pretest-posttest using follow-up and a control group. The statistical population of this study was all married women with breast cancer referred to Milad Hospital, Tehran, Iran, in 2020. In total, 45 patients who met the criteria for entering the study were selected as the final sample size using the non-random and available sampling method and were placed in two experimental groups and one control group (15 cases per group). At this stage, all three groups responded to the sexual self-efficacy questionnaire as a pretest, and the two experimental groups received cognitive-behavioral and emotion-focused therapy. On the other hand, the control group was requested to wait. After completing the course, all three groups responded to the questionnaire listed as a posttest. After four months, the follow-up test was administered again. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22) through covariance analysis test and paired comparison of measurement stages. Results: The results showed that both emotion-focused therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy were effective in sexual self-efficacy (P<0.001); however, there was no difference between the two treatments in terms of sexual self-efficacy. Conclusion: The results of this study showed the effect of emotion-focused approach therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy as supportive methods in increasing sexual self-efficacy in women with breast cancer.