Group Psychoeducation to Improve Cognitive Emotion Regulation in Nigerian Women with Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a life-altering stressor requiring patients to use a variety of psychosocial strategies to cope. Patients employing maladaptive cognitive coping strategies are likely to experience detrimental effects in their lives. Studies of group psychoeducation (GPE) interventions and its effects on positive and negative cognitive emotion regulation are scarce, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Nigeria. The present study investigated the effect of eight weeks of a GPE intervention on cognitive emotion regulation (CER) among a single group of Nigerian women with breast cancer. Twenty-eight women with breast cancer were randomly allocated to one of two conditions: a treatment group (TG, N = 15) and a control condition (CC, N = 13). The TG received eight weeks of GPE sessions, which included a 90-minute session per week, while the control condition (CC) included only a psychoeducational pamphlet. Assessments were carried out at baseline, posttreatment and 2-month follow-up with measures of CER Questionnaires. Data were analyzed using an independent sampled t test and chi square. The effect size was estimated with standard mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval. The results showed that TG participants had a significant improvement in adaptive CER (acceptance and positive reappraisal) in posttest and at 2-month follow-up compared to CC. Participants in TG also showed a significant decrease in maladaptive CER (self-blame, rumination and catastrophizing) relative to CC at posttest and 2-month follow-up. Group psychoeducation is an effective psychosocial treatment for better CER management of breast cancer. Group psychoeducation may be integrated as an adjunct therapy in the management of cancer patients, especially in Nigeria oncology, to improve the quality of life of patients and increase their survival rate.