engleski

Body Image as a Clinical Entity and Overall Factors of Latent Somatopsychic Anxiety in Breast Cancer Patients

Body image, and the impact of treatment on body image in women with breast cancer, remains an important issue for researchers and clinicians in the interdisciplinary fields of psychosocial oncology and rehabilitation. The paper presents a comparative analysis of research papers published in relevant research publications – European Journal of Cancer ; Psycho-Oncology ; Psychosomatic Medicine ; Journal of Chronic Diseases etc. – in which the authors focussed on the problem issue of body image in women with breast cancer. The sample consisted of 25 research papers. A starting hypothesis of the research was defined, according to which there was a connection between theoretical starting points and suggested methods that the authors from various disciplines used in their reflections on the clinical entity of body image, trying to explain various forms of existential anxiety, coping mechanisms and self-assessment in women with breast cancer. The clinical entity of body image was analysed on the basis of connection among dominant variables (breast cancer, quality of life, psychosocial adaptation, sexuality, body image) and different categories of complementary variables such as psycho-emotional determinants, psychosocial determinants, body experience, therapeutic approaches, scientific evaluation. Based on the analysis of correlations among dominant and complementary variables which defined quasi-canonical factors, it seemed appropriate to call them an overall factor of latent somatopsychic anxiety. This factor might represent one of important components in consideration of the clinical entity of body image in diagnostics and therapy. The presented results arise from the scientific research project "Complementary Supportive Therapies and Development of Life Potentials", supported by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia.

body image; breast cancer; scientific research; comparative analysis

nije evidentirano