applying the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders (up) on emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, mindful emotional awareness and quality of life in breast cancer: a pilot study

Introduction: this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders (up) for women with breast cancer.methods: it was a pilot randomized controlled trial in which women with breast cancer were allocated to a 9-week unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders (up) (n=14) or a wait-list control group (n=15). pre-and post-intervention, the beck depression scale (bdi-ii), beck anxiety scale (bai), depression, anxiety and stress scale (dass-21), cognitive flexibility inventory, cognitive emotion regulation strategies scale (cerq), emotional awareness level scale (leas), and the eortc breast cancer-specific quality of life (eortc qlq-br23) were completed. results: significant reductions in depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms, as well as maladaptive emotional regulation strategies, were observed within the up from baseline to post-treatment. compared to the waitlist-control condition, participants in the up condition showed increased adaptive strategies of emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, mindful emotional awareness, and quality of life.conclusions: the findings provide preliminary evidence for the utility of the up in the reduction of psychological dysfunctions and improving the quality of life in women with breast cancer.