Cancer is a chronic disease that causes the most deaths in the world, being a public health problem nowadays. Even though breast cancer affects the daily lives of patients, many women become resilient after the disease, decreasing the impact of the diagnosis. Based on a positive psychology approach, the concept of co-vitality arises understood as a set of socio-emotional competencies that enhance psychological adaptation. In this sense, emotional intelligence is one of the main protective factors associated with resilience. However, it is not always as beneficial as it seems, and can lead to collateral effects on psychological adjustment. Given this controversy, this study aims to find the specific processes through which the dimensions of Perceived Emotional Intelligence (PEI) (Emotional Attention, Emotional Clarity, and Mood Repair) can act as a risk or protective factor in the development of resilience. The total sample was 167 women (Age: M = 43.26; SD = 12.43), 46.7% were breast cancer survivors, and 53.3% were healthy controls. The selection of women with breast cancer carries out randomly, recruited through the Oncology Units. The sample completed measures of resilience and PEI, through Resilience Scale (Wagnild and Young, 1993) and TMMS-24 (Salovey et al., 1995). The results showed that breast cancer survivors showed higher age and greater levels of resilience and mood repair than healthy women. The mediation analysis revealed that breast cancer survival and PEI predicted 28% of the variance of resilience. The direct effects showed that emotional clarity and mood repair increased resilience levels. Although breast cancer did not predict resilience directly, it does through mood repair by an indirect process. Besides, the analysis showed that emotional attention played a role in vulnerability, decreasing mood repair, and resilience. These research support theories that point to a possible dark side of PEI, thus, a great level of emotional attention makes dark the positive effect of mood repair and personal growth if a clear perception of emotions does not complement it. These results provide empirical support concerning the need to work complementary each dimension of PEI to avoid unwanted effects on intrapersonal adjustment.

Breast Cancer (BC) is the most common neoplasm in women worldwide, considered a global public health problem. Among BC women, some of the most common psychological symptoms in the adaptation to the disease are reduction in self-esteem and distorted body image (BI). Although there are numerous studies with the goal of promoting different psychological variables, BI and self-esteem are often separately observed despite their relationship and their importance in the process of the illness. Moreover, there have been no reviews that have synthesized the findings related to interventions aimed at enhancing both self-esteem and BI in BC women. Therefore, the objective of this review was to identify and examine the implemented interventions aimed at boosting both variables in this population. For this purpose, a systematic review was implemented following the PRISMA statement. A thorough search was performed on the following databases: Web of Science, PubMed, PsychInfo, PsychArticles, and Scopus. Among 287 records, only eight articles met the eligibility criteria. Interventions were grouped into three types according to their characteristics: Group therapies, Physical activity therapies, and Cosmetic and beauty treatments. The levels of effectiveness of the different interventions varied between them, and within each, in their impact on self-esteem and BI. More interventions focused on developing BI and self-esteem in this population are needed due to their ability to predict psychological functioning and quality of life of women with breast cancer.

Psycho-oncology research suggests that positive personal changes can occur after experiencing breast cancer. These changes can be understood as post-traumatic growth (PTG) and seem to be determined by emotional self-efficacy perception. This study aims to investigate the existence of different profiles of PTG and perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) among breast cancer survivors (BCSs) and healthy controls. Moreover, it aims to study the mechanisms through which PEI may mediate the relationship between disease survival and PTG. The total sample was 636 women divided into two groups: 56 BCS and 580 healthy controls who completed TMMS-24 and PTGI. The results displayed that BCSs apparently show a different profile of PTG and PEI compared to healthy women. The mediation analyses showed that survivorship explained 1.9% of PTG, increasing to 26.5% by the effect of PEI. An indirect effect showed that cancer survival predicts reduced levels of emotional attention, decreasing PTG. However, the most statistical indirect effect evidenced that BCSs regulate their emotions appropriately, having a powerful effect on PTG and counteracting the negative effects of poor emotional attention. Knowing the implications of PEI on PTG could improve follow-up from the time of diagnosis and supporting the patient to cope with the sequelae of the disease.