Resilience among women with breast cancer surviving longer than five years: The relationship with illness perception and body image

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the correlations and identify the relationships between the resilience, perception of illness and body image of women with breast cancer in the 5-year-or-above survivorship. Methods: We used convenient sampling to recruit from an outpatient department 106 women with breast cancer. The inclusion criteria were participants aged >20 years currently in a stable condition and were able to understand the Chinese language. Those women with mental health illness were excluded. All participants completed questionnaires on the following: demographic information, revision of illness perception (IPQ-R), body image scale (BIS), Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ), and resilience scale (RS). We conducted the structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the factor structure. Results: SEM results showed a good fit to the data (comparative fit index = 0.97, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.94). Findings F indicated the existence of significant relationships between resilience and either illness perception or body image. Personality had a direct association with illness perception (β = 0.73, P < 0.05). Body image had an indirect effect on the relationship between resilience and illness perception (coefficient = -2.52; 95% bootstrapping CI = -31.36, −0.62). Conclusions: Results indicated that illness perception is a crucial predictor for better resilience as mediated through body image. To provide adequate information to women with breast cancer can improve their perception of breast cancer more positively. Hence, their body image and their way of coping with survival life turn better.