Group therapy can reduce cancer-related anxiety

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For women who have recently begun treatment for breast cancer, structured group therapy can reduce unwanted and uncontrolled cancer-related thoughts, alleviate anxiety about the disease and reduce overall stress levels, a team at the University of Miami, Florida, reports.

As reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Michael H. Antoni and colleagues recruited 199 patients who had surgery within the previous 8 weeks for newly diagnosed breast cancer. The women were randomly assigned to group therapy or to a control group, which had the option of attending a 1-day seminar.

Patients in the therapy group attended 10 weeks of cognitive behavioral treatment that focused on stress management. This consisted of relaxation training, thought restructuring, and training in coping skills.

The team followed the participants for 1 year after the group therapy sessions ended. Reports of intrusion by unwanted cancer-related thoughts were recorded, anxiety levels were assessed by the researchers, and levels of emotional distress were reported by the patients at three assessment visits during follow-up.

Cognitive behavioral therapy was associated with a "moderately large" decrease in thought intrusion and anxiety, and the effects persisted well past the completion of the breast cancer treatment, Antoni's group found. Reports of anxiety were reduced in the intervention group not only in response to thoughts about cancer, but to stressors in other areas of life.

These improvements were also significantly greater among the women who received group therapy compared with those in the control group.

The researchers conclude that "a group-based stress management intervention can significantly decrease cancer-specific intrusive thoughts, general anxiety symptoms and overall negative mood in women who are moving through their medical treatment for cancer."

SOURCE: American Journal of Psychiatry, October 2006.