The Role of Negative Spontaneous Thoughts and Dysfunctional Attitudes in Psychological Well-being Mediated by Perceived Stress in Women with Breast Cancer

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common and effective cancer in women, which causes deep emotional and emotional problems that, can affect their psychological well-being. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of negative spontaneous thoughts and dysfunctional attitudes in psychological well-being mediated by perceived stress in women with breast cancer. Methods: The present study was a descriptive structural equation. The statistical population of this study was all women with breast cancer treated in medical centers and specialized hospitals for cancer diagnosis and treatment in Tehran in the second quarter of 2020; 278 eligible women who volunteered to participate in the study were selected from the mentioned population based on Gujrasi and Morgan table by available sampling method. Tools used included the Hollen and Kendall (1980) Negative Self-Thought Questionnaire, Weiserman and Beck (1978), Reef Psychological Well-Being (1989), and Cohen et al. (1983) Perceived Stress. Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data using SPSS-24 and AMOS-24 software. Results: The results showed that the direct effect of negative spontaneous thoughts, dysfunctional attitudes and perceived stress on psychological well-being was significant (p <0.01). The direct effect of negative spontaneous thoughts on perceived stress and dysfunctional attitudes on perceived stress was significant (p <0.01). Also, the indirect effect of negative spontaneous thoughts and dysfunctional attitudes mediated by perceived stress on psychological well-being was significant (p <0.01). Conclusion: The results showed that the structural model of the research fits with the collected data. Therefore, the attention of health officials and managers to the role of effective factors in promoting and improving the psychological well-being of women with breast cancer is one of the necessities of this study.