Body image in women with breast cancer. A search within a relational perspective

Journal title RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA
Author/s Emanuela Saita, Giulia Ferraris, Sara Molgora, Valentina Fenaroli, Massimo Grassi
Publishing Year 2019 Issue 2018/4
Language Italian Pages 15 P. 729-743 File size 208 KB
DOI 10.3280/RIP2018-004011
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The general purpose of this work is to explore how individual and relational variables can affect the well-being and the body perception of women with breast cancer, differentiating psychological patterns of cognitive, emotional and relational processes. This exploratory study investigates individual (body image, anxiety, depression, personality, coping, resilience) and relational (dyadic coping and emotional closeness to the partner) variables of 30 subjects (15 patients and 15 partners). The analysis show two different profiles: low levels of altered body perception correspond to a general overall well-being and a better couple behav-iour; otherwise anxiety, depression and worst dyadic relationship are associated with deteriorated body perception. The findings suggest the importance of rela-tional components on the overall well-being of women with Breast cancer and their partners and support the idea of a dyadically oriented perspective in study-ing breast cancer patients.

Keywords: Body image, breast cancer, anxiety, depression, dyadic coping.

  1. Acquati, C., & Saita, E. (2017). Affrontare insieme la malattia. Il coping diadico tra teoria e pratica. Roma: Carocci.
  2. Aron, A., Aron, E.N., & Smollan, D. (1992). Inclusion of the other in the self scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality Social Psycholy, 63, 596-612.
  3. Badr, H., Milbury, K., Majeed, N., Carmack, C.L., Ahmad, Z., & Gritz, E.R. (2016). Natural language use and couples’ adjustment to head and neck cancer. Health Psychology, 35(10), 1069-1080.
  4. Bodenmann, G., Randall, A.K., & Falconier, M.K. (2017). Couples coping with stress. A cross-cultural perspective. New York: Taylor & Francis.
  5. Bonanno, G.A., Pat-Horenczyk, R., & Noll, J. (2011). Coping flexibility and trauma: The Perceived Ability to Cope with Trauma (PACT) Scale. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, 3(2), 117-129.
  6. Caprara, G.V., Barbaranelli, C., Borgogni, L., & Perugini, M. (1992). The “Big Five Questionnaire”: a new questionnaire to assess the five factor model. Personality and Individual Differences, 15(3), 281-288.
  7. Cash, T., & Pruzinsky, T. (2002). Body Image. USA: Guilford Press.
  8. Cheli, S., Agostini, A., Herd-Smith, A., Caligiani, L., Martella, F., & Fioretto, L. (2016). The Italian version of Body Image Scale. Reliability and sensitivity in a Sample of Breast Cancer Patients. Psicoterapia Cognitiva e Comportamentale, 22(11), 65-79.
  9. Costantini, M., Musso, M., & Viterbori, P. (1999). Detecting psychological distress in cancer patients: validity of the Italian version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Supportive care in cancer, 7(3), 121-127.
  10. Dahl, C.A.F, Reinertsen, K.V., Nesvold, I.L., Fossa, S.D., & Dahl, A.A. (2010). A study of Body Image in Long-Term Breast Cancer Survivors. Cancer, 3549-3557.
  11. Donato, S., Iafrate, R., Barni, D., Bertoni, A., Bodenmann, G., & Gagliardi, S. (2009). Measuring Dyadic Coping: the factorial structure of Bodenmann’s “Dyadic Coping Questionnaire” in an Italian sample. Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 16(1), 25-47.
  12. Drigotas, S., Rusbult, C., Wieselquist, J., & Whitton, S. (1999). Close Partner as Sculptor of the Ideal Self: Behavioral Affirmation and the Michelangelo Phenomenon. Journal of personality and Social Psychology, 77(2).
  13. Fernandez, M.E., Perez San Gregorio, M.A., Borda Mas, M., & Rodriguez, A.M. (2010). Impacto de la reconstruccion mamaria sobre la autoestima y la imagen corporal en pacientes con cancer de mama. Universitas Psycologica, 11(1), 25-41.
  14. Fingeret, M.C., Nipomnick, S.W., Crosby, M.A., & Reece, G.P. (2013). Devoloping a theoretical framework to illustrate associations among patient satisfaction, body image and quality of life for women undergoing breast reconstruction. Cancer Treatment Reviews, 39, 673-681.
  15. Fingeret, M.C., Teo, I., & Epner, D.E. (2014). Managing Body Image Difficulties of Adult Cancer Patients. Cancer, 633-641.
  16. Fobair, P., Stewart, S.L., Chang, S., D’onofrio, C., Banks, P.J., e Bloom, J.R. (2006). Body image and sexual problems in young women with breast cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 15, 579-594.
  17. Grassi, L., Buda, P., Cavana, L., Annunziata, M., Torta, R., & Varetto A. (2005). Styles of coping with cancer: the Italian version of the Mini- Mental Adjustmenr to Cancer (Mini-MAC) scale. Psycho-Oncology, 14(2), 115-124.
  18. Greer, S., Watson, M., Young, J., & Inayat, Q. (1988). Development of a questionnaire measure of adjustment to cancer: the MAC scale. Psychological Medicine, 18(1), 203-209.
  19. Henry, D.B., Tolan, P.H., & Gorman-Smith, D. (2005). Cluster Analysis in Family Psychology Research. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 121-132.
  20. Hopwood, P., Fletcher, I., Lee, A., & Al Ghazal, S. (2001). A body image scale for use with cancer patients. European Journal of Cancer, 37, 189-197.
  21. Kayser, K., Watson, L.E., & Andrade, J.T. (2007). Cancer as a “We-Disease”: examining the process of coping from a relational perspective. Families, Systems & Health, 25(4), 404-418.
  22. Kim Y., Shaffer K.M., Carver C.S., Cannady, R.S. (2015). Quality of life of family caregivers eight years after a relative’s cancer diagnosis: follow-up of the national quality of life survey for caregivers. Psychooncology, 25, 266–274.
  23. Kocan, S., & Gürsoy, A. (2016). Body Image Of Women With Breast Cancer After Mastectomy: A Qualitative Research. Journal of Breast Health, 12(4), 145-150.
  24. Lindwall, L., & Bergbom, I. (2009). The altered body after breast cancer surgery. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 4, 280-287.
  25. Maass, S.W.M.C., Roorda, C., Berendsen, A.J., Verhaak, P.F.M., & De Bock, G.H. (2015). The prevalence of long-term symptoms of depression and axiety after breast cancer treatment: a systematic review. Maturitas, 82, 100-108.
  26. Manne, S., & Badr., H. (2009). Intimacy processes and psychological distress among couples coping with head and neck or lungs cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 19(9), 941-954.
  27. Markey, C., & Markey, P. (2013). Gender, sexual orientation, and romantic partner influence on body image: an examination of heterosexual and lesbian women and their partners. Journal of social and personal relationships, 1-16.
  28. Miller, J.B. (1984). The development of women’s sense of self. Wellesley, MA: Stone Center Working Papers Series.
  29. Revenson, T., Kayser, K., & Bodenmann, G. (2002). Couples Coping With Stress. Emerging perspectives on dyadic coping. Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
  30. Rosenberg, S.M., Tamimi, R.M., Gelber, S., Ruddy, K.J., Kereakoglow, S., Borges, V.F., Come, S.E., Schapira, L., Winer, E.P, & Partridge, A.H. (2013). Body Image in recently diagnosed young women with early breast cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 22, 1849-1855.
  31. Saita, E., Acquati, C., & Kayser, K. (2015). Coping with early stage breast cancer: examining the influence of personality traits and interpersonal closeness. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 88.
  32. Saita, E., Acquati, C., & Molgora, S. (2016). Promoting Patient and Caregiver Engagement to Care in Cancer. Frontiers in Psychology, 7.
  33. Saita, E., Acquati, C., Fenaroli, V., Zuliani, C., & Bonanno, G. (2017). A confirmatory factor analysis of the perceived ability to cope with trauma (PACT) scale. Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 24(2), 255-268.
  34. Scott, J.L., Halford, W.K., & Ward, B.G. (2004). United we stand? The effects of couple-coping intervention on adjustment to early stage breast or gynecological cancer. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(6), 1122-1135.
  35. Scott, J.L., & Kayser, K. (2009). A review of couple-based interventions for enhancing women’s sexual adjustment and body image after cancer. Interventions in Cancer and Sexuality, 15(1), 48-56.
  36. White, C. (2000). Body Image dimensions and cancer: a heuristic and cognitive behavioural model. Psycho-Oncology, 9, 183-192.
  37. Zigmond, A.S., & Snaith, R.P. (1983). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 67(6), 361-370.
  38. Zimmermann, T., Scott, J.L., & Heinrichs, N. (2010). Individual and dyadic predictors of body image in women with breast cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 19, 1061-1068.

  • Dyadic Profiles of Couples Coping With Body Image Concerns After Breast Cancer: Preliminary Results of a Cluster Analysis Emanuela Saita, Giulia Ferraris, Chiara Acquati, Sara Molgora, Antonia Sorge, Francesco Valenti, Massimo Maria Grassi, Denise Vagnini, in Frontiers in Psychology 869905/2022
    DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.869905

Emanuela Saita, Giulia Ferraris, Sara Molgora, Valentina Fenaroli, Massimo Grassi, L’immagine corporea in donne con tumore al seno. Una ricerca entro una prospettiva relazionale in "RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA " 4/2018, pp 729-743, DOI: 10.3280/RIP2018-004011