Factors related to the body image of women after breast cancer surgery: A triadic model

Journal title RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA
Author/s Denise Vagnini, Sara Molgora, Antonia Sorge, Emanuela Saita
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2025/1
Language Italian Pages 30 P. 101-130 File size 0 KB
DOI 10.3280/rip2025oa20233
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Body image perception implies a complicated intrapsychic and interpersonal process that includes self-perception, self-evaluation, and self-definition, as well as emotional experiences in interpersonal interactions. In the context of oncological disease, when the affected organ holds a strong symbolic value, culturally associated with femininity, beauty, and fertility, the psychological repercussions can have a significant and lasting impact on women’s quality of life. Assuming the presence of three classes of interacting factors – (1) sociodemographic and medical variables; (2) intrapsychic variables; and (3) interpersonal-dyadic variables – the aim is to find a model that demonstrates which variables are significantly related to body image perception in the immediate postoperative period in a sample of Italian breast cancer patients. This is a cross-sectional observational study. Through a convenience sampling strategy, 162 Italian women who had already undergone surgery for breast cancer removal were recruited. The patient’s medical information was extracted from the medical record. Through psychometric questionnaires, the following were collected: (1) socio-demographic information: age and marital status; (2) intrapsychic measures: body image (Body Image Scale), personality traits (Big Five Questionnaire Short Form), individual coping strategies (Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer and Perceived Ability to Cope with Trauma), and anxiety and depressive symptomatology (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale); and (3) interpersonal-dyadic measures: dyadic coping (Dyadic Coping Questionnaire) and perception of partner closeness (Inclusion of the Other in the Self). A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the type of surgery (medical factor), hopelessness (intrapsychic factor), and negative dyadic coping (interpersonal-dyadic factor) are significantly related to women’s perception of their body image. In accordance with the scientific literature, it is shown that the quality of the body image perceived by patients with preexisting breast cancer stems from a complex network of individual distinctive characteristics, interpersonal dynamics, and closely interrelated contextual factors.

Keywords: ; body image; Breast cancer; interpersonal factors; relational approach

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Denise Vagnini, Sara Molgora, Antonia Sorge, Emanuela Saita, Fattori legati all’immagine corporea delle donne dopo un intervento per tumore al seno: un modello triadico in "RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA" 1/2025, pp 101-130, DOI: 10.3280/rip2025oa20233