Several authors have suggested that patients adjust more poorly to
breast
cancer if they are heavily invested in body image as a source of their
sense of self-worth. This prospective study examined this possibility,
looking at two aspects of concern about body image as predictors of
several
indices of adjustment over the first postoperative year. At diagnosis
(and
again a year later) 66 women with early stage breast cancer reported
how
much they valued (1) a sense of body integrity (or intactness) and (2)
a good physical appearance. The day before surgery, a week afterward,
and
at 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month followups, they reported on their
mood.
At presurgery and at followups they also rated their attractiveness and
sexual desirability and reported on frequency of sexual interaction. At
followups they also indicated how much their illness and treatment were
interfering with social and recreational activities. Initial investment
in appearance was related to distress across the postsurgical year. In
contrast, investment in appearance made women more resilient against
deterioration
in their perceptions of attractiveness. Concern about body integrity
did
not strongly predict emotional distress, but it related to adverse
impact
on social and recreational activities in the followup period, to
deterioration
in feelings of sexual desirability, and to feelings of alienation from
the self (feeling "not like yourself anymore"). Body image is often
thought
of in terms of physical appearance, but there is also a body image
pertaining
to integrity, wholeness, and normal functioning. People who are greatly
concerned about either aspect of their body image are vulnerable to
poorer
psychosocial adjustment when confronting treatment for breast cancer.
The
poorer adjustment takes a different form, however, depending on the
nature
of the patient's body-image concern.
The Measure of Body Apperception is available for research and
teaching
applications, by downloading the linked page.
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