The experience of breast cancer and related treatments has notable effects on women's mental health. Among them, the subjective perception of the body or body image (BI) is altered. Such alterations deserve to be properly treated because they augment the risk for depression and mood disorders, and impair intimate relationships. A number of studies revealed that focused psychological interventions are effective in reducing BI issues related to breast cancer. However, findings are inconsistent regarding the dimension of such effects. This meta-analysis synthesizes and quantifies the efficacy of psychological interventions for BI in breast cancer patients and survivors. Additionally, since sexual functioning emerged as a relevant aspect in the BI distortions, we explored the efficacy of psychological interventions on sexual functioning related to BI in breast cancer patients and survivors. The literature search for relevant contributions was carried out in March 2020 through the following electronic databases: Scopus, PsycINFO, and ProQUEST. Only articles available in English and that featured psychological interventions for body image in breast cancer patients or survivors with controls were included. Seven articles with 17 dependent effect sizes were selected for this meta-analysis. Variables were grouped into: Body Image (six studies, nine dependent effect sizes) and Sexual Functioning Related to the Body Image in breast cancer patients and survivors (four studies, eight dependent effect sizes). The three-level meta-analysis showed a statistically significant effect for Body Image [g = 0.50; 95% CI (0.08; 0.93); p < 0.05] but no significant results for Sexual Functioning Related to Body Image [g = 0.33; 95% CI (−0.20; 0.85); p = 0.19]. These results suggest that psychological interventions are effective in reducing body image issues but not in reducing sexual functioning issues related to body image in breast cancer patients and survivors. Future review efforts may include gray literature and qualitative studies to better understand body image and sexual functioning issues in breast cancer patients. Also, high-quality studies are needed to inform future meta-analyses.
In the earliest months of 2020, the COVID-19 emergency reached a pandemic status of international concern. In this situation, people tended to think more about current difficulties and their negative consequences due to the fear of infection and changed daily life during quarantine. The aim of this study was to explore the severity of worry in relation to individual characteristics and emotions during COVID-19 outbreak in the Italian people. Socio-demographic questions and standardized self-report questionnaires were administered online.Results highlighted a moderate level of worry, anxiety and distress. People with higher perceptions of COVID-19 severity exhibited higher levels of worry in contrast to those who perceived a greater control over the possibility of infection. Multiple regression analysis indicated that coping styles, emotion regulation strategies and personality traits significantly contributed to explain the variance in worry scores. Findings supported that cognitive reappraisal, emotion-focused coping and extraversion were protective factors for worry, while expressive suppression, dysfunctional and problem-focused coping, and neuroticism were related to high worry. However, neuroticism and dysfunctional coping were particularly important predictors of worry. This paper also considers possible psychological interventions that might be implemented in order to deal with mental health issues emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In recent years, technology has been developed as an important resource for health care management, especially in regard to chronic conditions. In the broad field of eHealth, mobile technology (mHealth) is increasingly used to empower patients not only in disease management but also in the achievement of positive experiences and experiential growth. mHealth tools are considered powerful because, unlike more traditional Internet-based tools, they allow patients to be continuously monitored and followed by their own mobile devices and to have continual access to resources (e.g., mobile apps or functions) supporting health care management activities. However, the literature has shown that, in many cases, such technology not accepted and/or adopted in the long term by its users. To address this issue, this article reviews the main factors influencing mHealth technology acceptance/adoption in health care. Finally, based on the main aspects emerging from the review, we propose an innovative approach to mHealth design and implementation, namely P5 mHealth. Relying on the P5 approach to medicine and health care, this approach provides design suggestions to address mHealth adoption issues already at the initial stages of development of the technologies.
Breast cancer survivors have to deal with notable challenges even after successful treatment, such as body image issues, depression and anxiety, the stress related to changes in lifestyle, and the continual challenges inherent to health management. The literature suggests that emotional abilities, such as emotional intelligence, emotion management, mood repair, and coping play a fundamental role in such challenges. We performed a systematic review to systematize the evidence available on the role of emotional abilities in quality of life and health management in breast cancer survivors. The search was performed on three scientific databases (Pubmed, Scopus, and PsycINFO) and, after applying exclusion criteria, yielded 33 studies, mainly of a cross-sectional nature. The results clearly support the hypothesis that emotional abilities play multiple important roles in breast cancer survivors’ quality of life. Specifically, the review highlighted that coping/emotional management plays multiple roles in breast cancer survivors’ well-being and health management, affecting vitality and general adjustment to cancer positivity and promoting benefit findings related to the cancer experience; however, rare negative results exist in the literature. This review highlights the relevance of emotional abilities to promoting quality of life in breast cancer survivors. Future review efforts may explore other breast cancer survivors’ emotional abilities, aiming at assessing available instruments and proposing tailored psychological interventions.
Objective: The relationship with the body is a relevant issue for breast cancer survivors. Oncological treatments damage their bodies due to scars, weight gain, and other side effects. Starting from the efficacy of psychological interventions for breast cancer survivors, a tailored psychological support program was provided to promote overall well-being after illness dealing with bodily signals and related emotions and thoughts. This study presents changes in the description of the relationship with their bodies as well as participants’ emotions and thoughts before and after a psychological intervention. Methods and Measures: Eighteen women answered questions related to their bodies before and after the psychological intervention. Results were analyzed in accordance with the procedure of the Word Association Analysis through the T-Lab software and the Qualitative Thematic Analysis. Results: Participants reported a great awareness of their bodies and the desire to take care of them daily. In particular, the body is now perceived as a helper to sustain breast cancer survivors in their everyday activities. Conclusion: The words and the themes that characterized the participants’ reports highlighted the impact of cancer diagnosis and oncological therapies on breast cancer survivors. The participation in the psychological intervention focused on self-compassion towards their body helps women to create an improved body perception.
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