The Brief Behavioral Activation Therapy for Depression in women with breast cancer: clinical cases

Abstract

Introduction: Cancer often causes challenges for those who suffer it, leading to a decrease
in overall quality of life and emotional disturbances such as depression. The experience of living with
cancer contributes to the loss of daily routines, fostering isolation and avoidance behaviors. Objective:
To determine the efficacy of an intervention based on the revised protocol of Brief Behavioral
Activation Therapy for Depression (BATD-R) on symptoms of depression and health-related quality
of life (HRQL) in women with breast cancer. Method: Six women in remission stage of breast cancer
with an age range of 31 to 75 years (M = 50,50; SD= 15,7) from three tertiary referral hospitals in
Mexico City participated. The intervention consisted of six weekly sessions of one hour. The procedure
included: psychoeducation and presentation of treatment, selection of activities considering areas
of life and values, selection of activities-goals, establishment of duration / frequency of the chosen
activities and weekly monitoring. With the use of functional behavior analysis, the use of other
complementary techniques was determined. Results: The six patients presented a clinically significant
decrease according to the BDI-II scores (RCIJT = 2.55-4.58). Patients two, four and five were those who
presented better results in HRQL and a significant clinical change (RCIJT = -2.01 to -5.44). Conclusions:
The BATD-R protocol derived from the Behavioral Activation model, turns out to be a very useful,
flexible and easy to use tool in hospital settings.