Aims: The purpose of this study was to develop a stress management program for Korean breast cancer patients and to examine its effectiveness.

Methods: We had developed a ‘National Cancer Center- Stress Management Program (NCC-SMP)’ based on cognitive-behavioral and problem solving approach through article reviews and expert consultations. The NCC-SMP was a group-psychotherapy, consisted of 10 sessions, twice a week, and conducted by 2 clinical psychologists. In each session, participants dealt with agenda related to breast cancer. To examine the effectiveness of the NCC-SMP, we conducted a randomized controlled trial. 128 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer (stage 0-IIIc) undergoing radiation therapy were randomized to either an intervention group or a treatment as usual (TAU) control group. All patients completed self-reports including Symptom Check List-90-Revision (SCL-90-R), EORTC-QLQ-BR23, Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC), K-ATQN (Korean Automatic Thought Questionnaire), and Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) at pre-, post-, and 3 months follow-up intervention. Data of 64 participants (intervention group: 32 patients, control group: 32 patients) were finally analyzed.

Results: By mixed repeated-measures ANCOVA (group × time), interaction effect was significant in somatization (p=.021), anxiety (p=.034), depression (p=.010) in SCL-90-R, sexual function (p=.003) and general functioning (p=.028) in EORTC-QLQ-BR23, anxious preoccupation (p=.049) and fatalism (p=0.49) in Mini-MAC. Also, group main effect was significant in automatic negative thoughts (p<.001) in K-ATQN, posttraumatic growth (p=.004) in PTGI, and body image (p=.017) and symptoms caused by cancer treatment (p=.002) in EORTC-QLQ-BR23.

Conclusions: The NCC-SMP was effective on reducing breast cancer patients’ psychological distress, improving their daily functioning, and enhancing their posttraumatic growth.

Acknowledgment: This work was supported by the National Cancer Center Grant (NCC 1010073-1).