The effect of interpersonal relationships psychotherapy on depression, emotion regulation and social support levels in breast cancer patients with depression risk: A randomized controlled study

Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) applied to patients diagnosed with breast cancer on their levels of depression, interpersonal emotion regulation skills, and perceived social support. Methods: This study, conducted with a randomized controlled experimental design, was carried out between February 2024 and April 2025 with patients receiving treatment at the Outpatient Chemotherapy Unit of Koç University Hospital. The sample size was determined through power analysis, and 42 patients were randomly assigned to the experimental (n=21) and control (n=21) groups. The experimental group received 12 weeks of individual Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT). Data were collected in three phases—pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test—using the Beck Depression Inventory for Primary Care, Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses were used in data analysis. Results: When the socio-demographic characteristics and disease-related variables of patients in the experimental and control groups were compared, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups (p > 0.05). According to the results of the GLM analyses, the effects of group, time, and the group*time interaction were statistically significant for all measurements (p < 0.001). In the intervention group, depression levels decreased, while significant increases were observed in interpersonal emotion regulation and perceived social support levels. Conclusion and Recommendations: The findings of the study demonstrated that Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) was effective in reducing depression levels and improving interpersonal emotion regulation skills and perceived social support among breast cancer patients at risk for depression. Based on these results, it is recommended that IPT be integrated into psycho-oncological care and utilized in nursing practices. Furthermore, it is suggested that similar interventions be tested in patient groups with different sociodemographic characteristics and various types of cancer, and that long-term follow-up studies be planned.