Zadovoljstvo životom, tjelesnim izgledom i samopercepcija seksualne privlaenosti u žena operiranih zbog raka dojke
Satisfaction with life, body image, and self-perceived sexual attractiveness in women who underwent breast surgery due to breast cancer

Summary/Abstract: There are many studies that have dealt with the psychological functioning and quality of life of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer and who underwent breast surgery. There is an increasing number of such studies in Croatia as well. However, Croatian research on the consequences of diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in comparison with a healthy population of women is scarce. It is important to focus on the impact of cancer not only on women’s physical health, but also on their mental health and psychological functioning, since that is the first step towards creating and conducting psychosocial interventions aimed at improving their quality of life. The main goal of this study was to compare life satisfaction, psychological flourishing, body image, and self-perceived sexual attractiveness between women who had undergone breast surgery due to breast cancer, and a control sample of women without cancer. The first group consisted of 162 women between the ages of 28 and 69 (M=47.98) who underwent radical or breast-conserving breast surgery. The second group consisted of 156 women, 28 to 72 years old (M=47.60), who were not diagnosed with breast cancer or any other malignant disease. In terms of examined aspects of psychological functioning and adaptation of women who had breast cancer, the results of this study are quite encouraging since this group of women did not differ significantly in levels of life satisfaction, psychological flourishing, body image or self-perceived sexual attractiveness from the group of women without malignant disease. In both groups of women, more favorable body image and self-perceived sexual attractiveness correlated significantly with higher life satisfaction and psychological flourishing. Furthermore, it was found that the women who underwent breast-conserving surgery had a more positive body image and were more satisfied with their breasts than those who underwent radical breast surgery. This could be viewed as an indicator of the advantage of breast-conserving surgery over radical surgery of the breast whenever possible.

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