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Impact of marital coping on the relationship between body image and sexuality among breast cancer survivors

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Abstract

Purpose

The aims of the study were (1) to understand the relationship between women’s marital coping efforts and body image as well as sexual relationships and (2) to test a hypothesized model suggesting that marital coping efforts have a mediating effect on the relationship between body image and sexual relationships among breast cancer survivors.

Methods

A total of 135 breast cancer survivors who had finished cancer treatment completed a self-reported questionnaire concerning body image, marital coping efforts, and sexual relationship.

Results

Body image, marital coping, and sexual relationship were found to be significantly correlated with each other. The final path model showed that negative marital coping efforts, including avoidance and self-blame, significantly mediated the effect of women’s body image on their sexual relationships. Although a positive approach did not correlate with body image, it did significantly correlate with women’s sexual relationships.

Conclusions

Our study demonstrated that negative marital coping using self-blame and avoidance mediated the association between body image and sexual relationship. Future interventions to address the body image and sexual life of breast cancer survivors should be considered using positive approaches that prevent disengaged avoidance or self-blame coping efforts intended to deal with marital stress.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital of Taiwan for its support of this study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors have full control of all primary data and agree to allow the journal to review the data if required.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, NO. 1, University Rd, Tainan, 701, Taiwan

    Su-Ying Fang

  2. Department of Nursing, Pao-Chien Hospital, Pingtung, Taiwan

    Yi-Chen Lin

  3. Cancer Center, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital, Chia-Yi, Taiwan

    Tzu-Chun Chen

  4. Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Chung-Ying Lin

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  1. Su-Ying Fang
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Correspondence to Su-Ying Fang.

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Fang, SY., Lin, YC., Chen, TC. et al. Impact of marital coping on the relationship between body image and sexuality among breast cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer 23, 2551–2559 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2612-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2612-1

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