Abstract

SEBASTIAN, Julia; MANOS, Dimitra; BUENO, M.ª José  and  MATEOS, Nuria. Body image and self-esteem in women with breast cancer participating in a psychosocial intervention program. Clínica y Salud [online]. 2007, vol.18, n.2, pp.137-161. ISSN 2174-0550.

One of the issues of major interest in relation to breast cancer has been the patient’s adjustment to the changes in body image that treatment entails. The goals of the present study are related to various aspects of body image and self-esteem. These objectives include: a) to examine the effectiveness of a psychosocial intervention designed to boost body image and self-esteem, by comparing an intervention and a control group at each of the three measurement stages: pre-treatment, post-treatment and follow up, and b) to analyze the influence of socio-demographic and medical variables (type of surgery and type of treatment) on body image and self-esteem. Results show that in terms of body image, the intervention group scores are higher in post-treatment and follow-up whereas in terms of self-esteem, the difference only shows up in the follow-up, making time elapsed relevant. As for the type of surgery, women with a tumorectomy had a more positive body image than women with a mastectomy.

Keywords : Body image; Breast cancer; Self-esteem; Mastectomy.

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