Mental body representations of women with tattoos in emerging adulthood - a cluster analysis.

Tattoo is a permanent body modification relevant to women's bodily experiences. Previous studies on the population of tattooers have focused mainly on searching for negative or positive aspects of tattooing, mainly in the field of self-esteem. The aim of this study was to explore the mental body representations of tattooed women during emerging adulthood. Three hundred and twenty-seven women with tattoos, aged 18 to 25 (M = 21.48; SD = 2.05), participated in the study. In the study, we adopted a quantitative research project; the data for analysis was obtained from questionnaires that were completed online between January and March 2021. Women with tattoos completed a survey containing demographic questions, questions regarding their tattoos, the Battery of Tests of Body Self Representations, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Based on that a cluster analysis, we have discovered three types of mental body representations that may characterize them: (1) unstable, (2) disordered, and (3) integrated. The study showed that having a tattoo is associated with experiencing carnality in a specific way.

How do threat to life and state anxiety disturb the psychological functioning of Polish adults during coronavirus pandemic? / W jaki sposób poczucie zagrozenia zycia i lek jako stan zaklócaja psychiczne funkcjonowanie doroslych Polaków podczas pandemii koronawirusa?

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to answer the following question: how do threat to life and state anxiety predict psychological functioning in a coronavirus pandemic among Polish adults aged 18-65 years? METHODS: The web-based cross-sectional survey was applied to 1466 Polish respondents (1074 women, 73.3%) aged 18-65 years. They were divided into four age groups (18-25; 26-35; 36-45; 46-65). All participants completed: General Functioning Questionnaire (GFQ), State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), and General Sense of Threat to Life Scale (GSTLS). RESULTS: The youngest adults (aged 18-25 years) manifested significantly higher psychological distress, state anxiety, and a sense of threat to life compared to all the older participants. A sense of threat to life and state anxiety were significant predictors of psychological distress during the COVID-19 epidemic, where state anxiety mediates the relation between threat to life and psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: The youngest participants constitute a risk group for psychological difficulties during the pandemic situation. The COVID-19 psychological distress could be significantly predicted by the two kinds of emotional state such as threat to life and anxiety.

Exploring the relationship between the body self and the sense of coherence in women after surgical treatment for breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Analysis of the relationship between the body self (BS) and the sense of coherence (SOC) in women after breast surgery due to cancer in comparison with a control group. METHODS: A cross-sectional study in a group of 78 women using the body-self questionnaire (BS-Q), and the life orientation questionnaire (SOC-29). Statistics based on the IBM SPSS v.25. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) has shown significant differences based on groups in experiencing intimacy, manifesting femininity, body acceptance, and manageability. In particular, manifesting femininity and body acceptance showed a big effect size (0.30 < partial ɳ2  < 0.32). Correlation analysis between the BS-Q and SOC-29 subscales and Fisher's r to z transformation determines that the differences between groups were significant in favour of healthy women in two sets of variables: experiencing intimacy/meaningfulness and attitude to food and weight/manageability. CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancer survivors are at greater risk of developing decreased body acceptance and problems in intimacy, and have less correlation than the healthy control group between manageability and meaningfulness with an appropriate attitude to food and intimate relationship with their partner, respectively. A higher manifestation of femininity in the treated group can be considered a positive but socioculturally conditioned coping strategy.

The relationship between surgical treatment (mastectomy vs. breast conserving treatment) and body acceptance, manifesting femininity and experiencing an intimate relation with a partner in breast cancer patients. / Zwiazek leczenia chirurgicznego (mastektomia vs. zabieg oszczedzajacy piers) z akceptacja cielesnosci, eksponowaniem kobiecosci i przezywaniem intymnej relacji z partnerem w grupie kobiet z rakiem piersi.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to verify the following hypotheses: (1) Do women who have undergone surgical treatment for breast cancer differ from healthy women in the way they experience their body (body self)?; (2) Does the surgical technique (mastectomy vs. breast conserving treatment) differentiate the group in terms of experiencing their body after the surgery?; (3) Do demographic variables, BMI, breast size and the evaluation of the scar differentiate the group in terms of experiencing their body self after the surgery? METHODS: In order to gain some insight into how women experience their body after breast surgery, the Body Self Questionnaire designed in 2005 by Beata Mirucka was used. The analysis included data from 50 women who completed surveys. This data were compared to the control group. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics package, version 24, with a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were obtained between the entire group of women after breast surgery (mastectomy and BCT, jointly) and the control group of healthy women in three aspects of the Body Self Questionnaire: body acceptance, manifesting femininity and experiencing an intimate relation with a partner. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical treatment of breast cancer is significantly associated with the way patients experience their body, which is expressed in three dimensions of the body self in treated women.

The sense of body ownership in schizophrenia: research in the rubber hand illusion paradigm. / Poczucie wlasnosci ciala u osób ze schizofrenia: badania w paradygmacie Iluzji Gumowej Reki.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the research was to explore the susceptibility to disturbances in one's sense of body ownership induced in patients with schizophrenia. The research questions were: 1) Is Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) significantly more intense in a group of patients with schizophrenia than in a group of patients without a diagnosed mental illness? 2) Is there a correlation between disturbances in the sense of body ownership and the personality organization level, reflected in defense mechanisms? 3) Do the disturbances in the sense of body ownership correlate with the most common defense mechanisms? METHODS: 64 people took part in the study, including 31 patients with diagnosed schizophrenia, according to ICD-10 (93.5% - paranoid type and 6.5% - disorganized type) and 33 people without mental illness diagnosis. The study was conducted in the RHI paradigm. Research tools used: Botvinick and Cohen's RHI Questionnaire and Bond's Defense Style Questionnaire. RESULTS: There were significant differences between the control group and the schizophrenic group: 1) in the intensity of RHI (F(1, 62) = 121.86; p < 0.001), as well as 2) on the neurotic (F(1, 62) = 28.21; p < 0.001) and immature (F(1, 62) = 36.71; p < 0.001) mechanisms' level. Patients witch schizophrenia activated immature mechanisms most intensively while in the control group the dominant mechanisms were from the mature and neurotic groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with schizophrenia experience disruptions in the sense of body ownership much more intensively compared to the control group. The intensity of RHI is related to the personality organization level and to the most common activation of mechanisms from immature group, especially schizoid fantasy and projection.