Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Sciences ISSN: 2231– 6345 (Online) An Open Access, Online International Journal Available at www.cibtech.org/sp.ed/jls/2014/04/jls.htm 2014 Vol. 4 (S4), pp. 1521-1527/Hosseinpour et al. Research Article © Copyright 2014 | Centre for Info Bio Technology (CIBTech) 1521 THE EFFICACY OF COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL STRESS MANAGEMENT TRAINING ON DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY IN WOMEN WITH CANCER Amirhossein Hosseinpour 1 , *Seyed Jalal Younesi 1 , Shafigh Mehraban 1 , Seyedeh Fatemeh Mousavi 2 , Seyed Abolfazl Mousavi 2 , Farzaneh Farmani 2 and Mohammad Rostami 3 1 Department of Counseling of University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2 Department of Clinical Psychology, Tehran Campus University, Tehran, Iran 3 Department of Clinical Psychology, Islamic Azad University of Isfahan (Khorasegan branch) *Author for Correspondence ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral stress management on anxiety and depression in women with breast cancer. This study was performed in quasi-experimental procedure with pre-test and post-test and control groups. The study population included all women referring to the Comprehensive Cancer Control Center in the Year 2012, among which 24 patients with cancer selected by accessible sampling and were replaced into control and experimental group accidently. Instruments used in this study were a questionnaire, Beck depression and anxiety. Multivariate analysis of variance showed that cognitive-behavioral stress management training had a significant effect on reducing anxiety and depression in women with cancer (anxiety (p<0/05), depression (p 05 / 0 > )). Cognitive-behavioral stress management training for women with cancer can be taken as an effective way to improve the psychological status of these women. Keywords: Depression, Anxiety, Cognitive-behavioral Stress Management, Cancer INTRODUCTION Despite significant advances in medical science, cancer continues to be one of the major diseases of our century and is known as the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases. Now, more than 7 million people worldwide lose their lives due to cancer and it is predicted that the number of patients annually by 2020 from 10 million will reach to 15 million (Hamza et al., 2011). Although nowadays diagnosis of cancer is not considered as imminent death, many studies (Brothers et al., 2011) in western countries and some Asian countries has shown that such diagnosis cause deeply emotional problems in patients and their families. Some of the causes of these problems are the implications of this diagnosis in mind of the patient and his family, including malformation risk, pain, financial and social losses, dependence, disrupted family structure, death and dying process and the actual occurrence is some of these phenomenon’s in life of patients. The most common psychiatric disorder in these patients, according to studies, is adjustment disorder with subtypes of affective disorders, such as adjustment disorder with anxiety, with depression, and with anxiety and depression. The second most common psychiatric diagnosis in these patients is major depressive disorder (Brown, 2012). Other studies have shown that these patients are suffered mostly by complains about anxiety and depression (Brothers et al., 2011). Depression is the most common mental disorder in recent years that its rate has increased (Gilchrist and Creed, 1994). Almost in everyone’s life there are days that the feelings of boredom, sadness, frustration, disappointment, loneliness and dissatisfaction have been overcome that they are common experiences of depression. These feelings and the way they perceive in the realm of normal life and in the pathological experience field, have been associated with the concept of depression. Depression is the most common known cause of emotional pain and suffering and cause of significant reduction in life quality in life (Nuval, 2010). Including people who suffer from depression is people with cancer. Anxiety is another factor that affects the lives of these patients. Studies have shown that cancer patients in comparison with healthy individuals have higher levels of psychiatric disorders such as stress and anxiety. A study by Basic and colleagues in Norway, over 140 cancer patients showed 19% of cancer patients