en تحقيقي Original Paper <div><strong>ABSTRACT</strong><br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Background and Objectives:</strong> Cancer and its conventional treatments may bring about some psychological and health-related symptoms leading to unstable cortisol level. Since evidence has shown that mindfulness based approaches can be helpful to reduce cortisol level, we aimed at investigating the efficacy of&nbsp;&nbsp; mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on decreasing salivary cortisol level in the women with breast cancer.&nbsp;<br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Methods: </strong>in this one- group pretest posttest study, the women with early stage breast cancer were assessed to select eligible ones (N = 15). They were first trained for collecting salivary cortisol sample (before, after and follow-up)&nbsp;&nbsp; and then were asked to participate in MBCT, an eight-week session approach.&nbsp; Participants provided salivary samples in the morning (7: 30- 8:30), afternoon (1-3) and night (9-11).&nbsp; To measure cortisol, Cortisol Enzyme Immunoassay Kit was used. Analysis was performed on the data of 12 participants remained, using repeated measurement.<br> &nbsp;<strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Results: </strong>the results of repeated measure ANOVA revealed that cortisol level of posttest (after 8-weeks of MBCT and follow-up period) in comparison with pretest was significantly reduced for morning and afternoon cortisol while it was not true for night cortisol.&nbsp; The post-treatment cortisol was not significantly correlated with age groups, education levels and socio-economic status using repeated measure ANCOVA.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Conclusion:</strong> Given that the women with breast cancer are at the high risk of psychological distresses and unstable cortisol level, we recommend mindfulness-based approaches esp. MBCT to health providers specifically those working with breast cancer patients.<br> <strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Keywords:</strong> Mindfulness, MBCT, Cortisol , Salivary Cortisol, Breast cancer.</div> Mindfulness, MBCT, Cortisol , Salivary Cortisol, Breast cancer. 16 22 http://mlj.goums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-539&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohammad Taghi Badeleh 100319475328460014553 100319475328460014553 No Department of Psychology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran Robabeh Noori rynoury@yahoo.com 100319475328460014554 100319475328460014554 Yes Department of Psychology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran Alireza Moradi 100319475328460014555 100319475328460014555 No Department of Psychology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran