The Effectiveness of Psychodrama on Reducing Generalized Anxiety and Changing Metacognitive Beliefs in Women with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Introduction: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of psychodrama on reducing generalized anxiety and changing metacognitive beliefs in women with breast cancer. Method: This is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with the control group. The statistical population included patients with breast cancer who were being treated in Mazandaran province, among whom, 50 patients with inclusion criteria were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to control and intervention groups i.e. 25 people in the control group and 25 people in the experimental group. In this method, covariance was used to control the disturbing variables and determine the effectiveness of the treatment. To select samples from the study population, 50 people were selected voluntarily by available sampling and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The research tools included Metacognitive Beliefs (MCQ-30) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaires (GAD-7). The treatment protocol was performed in 16 sessions. The collected data were analyzed by covariance test. Results: The results of the analysis indicated that the differences between the experimental and control groups in the generalized anxiety and metacognitive beliefs variables were significant. Therefore, psychodrama was effective in changing metacognitive beliefs and reducing pervasive anxiety in women with breast cancer (P = 0.01, F = 47.99). Conclusion: Psychodrama can relieve negative emotions and regulate them, resulting in reducing anxiety in the individuals by discharging emotions, creating in action and role-play.