title: Body image, self-concept, and self-esteem in women who had a mastectomy and either wore an external breast prosthesis or had breast reconstruction and women who had not experienced mastectomy.
abstract: The perceptions of three groups of women regarding their body image, self-concept, total self-image, and self-esteem were compared. The groups included 64 women who had mastectomies and wore external breast prostheses, 31 women who had mastectomies and underwent breast reconstruction, and a control group of 78 women who had not experienced mastectomy. The body image, total self-image, and self-esteem mean scores indicated that the prosthesis and reconstruction groups had more positive feelings regarding their bodies than did the control group. There were no significant differences in self-concept among the three groups. These findings challenge a common assumption that mastectomy automatically results in psychiatric morbidity caused by an altered body image and suggest that health professionals should not make assumptions about how a woman will psychologically respond to mastectomy.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Reaby
authors.forename: L K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Hort
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vandervord
mesh_terms: D001828:Body Image; D018427:Breast Implants; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016462:Mammaplasty / Q000523:psychology*; D008408:Mastectomy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D012649:Self Concept