The Effectiveness of Cognitive- Behavior Therapy and its Computerized Version on Reduction of Pain Intensity and Anger in Children with Cancer in Ahvaz

Introduction: Cancer is one of the medical problems that have been associated with pain. Moreover, the pain combined by negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, anger. In addition, the negative emotions lead to reduced quality of life, disruption of sleep habits and eating people. Todays by achievement in new technologies and wide influences, the psychological interventions are affected by it too. So, we see increasing improvement in computerized interventions. Therefore, it is necessary to use psychological interventions in this group of people to reduce the negative effects of pain and enhance the consistency and adjustment. In this research, we have examined effectiveness of typical pain cognitive- behavior therapy and its computerized version on reduction of pain intensity, depression, anger and anxiety in children with cancer in Ahvaz.  Method: The research method was a pre, post-test and follows up with a control group.  Two psychological interventions (cognitive behavioral therapy for pain and the computerized version) were compared with the control group. The sample consisted of 60 children aged 8 to 12 years old with different types of cancer of Shafa hospital in Ahwaz. According to the including and excluding criteria such as age, socioeconomic status, clinical diagnostic interview and other criteria, 60 subjects were selected. Then, randomly, 45 subjects were selected. The subjects randomly divided into three groups of 15 (two experimental and one control groups). The Research instruments included Depression Inventory (CDS), Spielberger Anxiety Inventory (STAY-2), Spielbergerchr('39')s Anger (STAXI), and International Pain Measurement Scale. The first experimental group received 6 sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy for 6 weeks, and the second group was subjected to a computerized version of cognitive-behavioral therapy for 6 weeks, but the control group did not receive any interventions.  For ethical considerations, a version of computerized cognitive-behavioral therapy was provided to them. After 6 weeks, all three groups were evaluated as post-test and eventually after one-month follow-up. Results:  The results showed that there was a significant difference between the two experimental groups and control group in anger and pain (P <0.0001), the rate of anger and pain in experimental groups significantly decreased in comparison with pre-test and the control group. These results significantly persisted after follow-up period. In the follow up period, the rate of anger and pain in computerized version of cognitive behavioral therapy group decreased in comparison with common cognitive behavioral therapy for pain. Conclusion: According to these results, using computerized version of cognitive behavioral therapy is recommended for cancer children beside other medical therapeutic methods.