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Received: 2 August 2019    Revised: 16 October 2019    Accepted: 14 November 2019

DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1488

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Profiles of resources and body image in health and illness:

A comparative study among females with rheumatoid arthritis,
females with breast cancer and healthy controls

Marcin Rzeszutek  | Małgorzata Pięta | Marek Huzar

Faculty of Psychology, University of

Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland Abstract
Background: The aim of this study was to examine whether or not profiles of re-
Correspondence
Marcin Rzeszutek, Faculty of Psychology, sources (i.e., a multifaceted picture that simultaneously includes different types of
University of Warsaw, Stawki 5/7, 00-183, resources), as described by the conservation of resources (COR) theory, and profiles
Warsaw, Poland.
Email: marcin.rzeszutek@psych.uw.edu.pl of body image (i.e., a multidimensional picture that simultaneously includes different
aspects of body image) differ between females that represent two clinical samples
Funding information
Faculty of Psychology, University (rheumatoid arthritis [RA]; breast cancer [BC]) and a healthy control group.
of Warsaw, Grant/Award Number: Method: The sample comprised 328 females, including 141 women with RA, 102
5011000220/2019
with a BC diagnosis, and 85 healthy women as a control group, and was collected
from the general population. To measure the level of COR resources in each partici-
pant, we used the COR evaluation questionnaire (COR-E). Participants' body image
was assessed with the aid of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire
(MBSRQ).
Results: A discriminant analysis revealed that females from the clinical groups dif-
fered with respect to their profiles of some resources and body image when com-
pared to those of the healthy control group. In addition, we found differences in body
image evaluations between women with RA and women with BC.
Conclusions: Women with RA or BC differ substantially with respect to their subjec-
tively assessed resources and body image when compared to women with no chronic
diseases. Therefore, psychological counselling designed for females with RA or BC
should be employed to help them restore the aspects altered by their respective
illnesses.

KEYWORDS

body image, breast cancer, resources, rheumatoid arthritis

1 |  I NTRO D U C TI O N (World Health Organization [WHO], 2018). Chronic illness can be
very stressful and is associated with major functional limitations
Chronic illness is a phenomenon that is growing in prevalence, af- (e.g., arthritis; Shih, Hootman, Strine, Chapman, & Brady, 2006)
fecting an increasing portion of the population all over the world and even traumatic experiences that pose a real threat to life (e.g.,

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2019 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Brain and Behavior. 2020;10:e01488.  wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/brb3 |

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https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1488
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cancer; Kangas, Henry, & Bryant, 2005). In other words, chronic dis- Along with RA, BC is one of the most prevalent health prob-
ease can induce a profound change in patients' lives and well-be- lems worldwide, being the second most frequently detected type
ing, and thus, appropriate stress-coping mechanisms are necessary of cancer in the world and the first most frequently detected among
to help patients adapt to the sometimes overwhelming situation of women (WHO, 2018). Women with BC face multidimensional psy-
coping with an ongoing illness (e.g., Dempster, Howell, & Mccorry, chological distress stemming from its threat to life (Saboonchi et al.,
2015). Until now, the vast majority of studies on coping with chronic 2014) along with a significant drop in their quality of life and a de-
disorders have focused on the transactional model of stress and cline in their psychosocial functioning (Syrowatka et al., 2017). Like
coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; for reviews, see also Kato, 2013; in RA patients, appropriate coping abilities can be crucial in adapting
Moskowitz, Hult, Bussolari, & Acree, 2009). Taking this into account, to this disease, which are linked with less anxiety, lower levels of
it is important to note that there are several limitations to the afore- depression, and an increased quality of life (Arnaboldi, Riva, Crico, &
mentioned model in depicting the process of coping with disease Pravettoni, 2017). However, until now, only Banou et al. (2009) had
(e.g., Skinner, Edge, Altman, & Sherwood, 2003); in our study, we demonstrated the role of interpersonal resources from COR theory
focus on the massively understudied conservation of resources in diminishing cancer-related distress in women with BC.
(COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1989). The second reason we compared these two clinical entities is
Conservation of resources theory focuses on the sociocultural their relationship with one psychological variable that plays a major
context of stress and coping, wherein the central attention is shifted role in coping with them—that is, body image. Body image is a multi-
from a subjective appraisal of stress and coping (Lazarus & Folkman, dimensional term that encompasses the thoughts, beliefs, emotions,
1984) to the objective resources defined as things that an individual and behaviors associated with an individual's physical appearance
currently possesses and values (e.g., objects, states, or conditions) or (Cash & Pruzinsky, 2002). In RA patients, body image distortions,
aims to achieve, maintain, and protect in the future (Hobfoll, 1989). which are very prevalent, are related to elevated pain and functional
Therefore, in COR theory, stress and coping processes can be oper- limitations, all of which have been observed mainly among female
ationalized more specifically and are associated with an actual loss RA patients (Bode, Taal, Heij, & Laar, 2010; Gutweniger, Kopp, Mur,
of resources or the threat of losing them. The majority of studies & Gunther, 1999). Likewise, body image distortions in BC are the
on COR theory have been conducted in nonclinical settings (e.g., strongest predictor of cancer-related distress and the deteriora-
Hobfoll, Johnson, Ennis, & Jackson, 2003; Jin, McDonald, & Park, tion of social functioning in females with BC (Carver et al., 1998;
2016; van Woerkom, Bakker, & Nishii, 2016), and thus, little is known Thomas & Usher, 2009). It has been determined that in females with
about the application of this model in a clinical environment (e.g., RA (Alleva et al., 2018; Bode et al., 2010) and those with BC (Fobair
Banou, Hobfoll, & Trochelman, 2009; Dirik & Karanci, 2010). Thus, et al., 2005; Harcourt & Rumsey, 2019), body image is shaped to a
in our study, we evaluate and compare the COR resources among greater extent by psychosocial factors than by illness-related fac-
two clinical samples of female participants, those with rheumatoid tors, but no studies on the differences between COR resources and
arthritis (RA) and those with breast cancer (BC). We chose these body image in these patient groups have been conducted thus far.
clinical entities mainly due to the biological links between them (i.e.,
there is a heightened risk of BC in RA females; see Tian, Liang, Wang,
& Zhou, 2014). Moreover, it remains unknown as to how clinical and 1.1 | Current study
nonclinical samples differ in their resources' perception. Thus, we
also wanted to compare resource evaluations among the clinical Taking the abovementioned research gaps into consideration, the aim
samples to those of a healthy female control group. of our study is twofold. First, we want to examine whether or not the
Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the leading debilitating chronic profiles of resources and body image differ between the females that
diseases worldwide and is characterized by joint destruction, chronic represent different clinical samples (i.e., RA and BC patients) and a
pain, incremental disability, and heightened mortality compared to healthy control group. Second, we aim to investigate the potential
that of the general population (Smolen, Aletaha, & McInnes, 2016). differences between the profiles of resources and body image within
The aforementioned factors are linked with persistent psychological the aforementioned clinical samples. We formulated four hypotheses:
distress (Rzeszutek, Oniszczenko, Schier, Biernat-Kałuża, & Gasik,
2016), poor quality of life (Matcham et al., 2014), and, in the long Hypothesis 1 Clinical samples of the females differ with respect to the
run, various RA-related psychiatric disorders (Nicassio et al., 2012). profiles of resources, as described by the COR theory, from the
Nevertheless, many researchers have noticed various benefits re- healthy control group of females.
lated to coping with RA. The literature on coping with RA, although Hypothesis 2 Females with RA differ with respect to the profiles of
vast, is very heterogeneous with regard to conclusions and is based resources, as described by the COR theory, from female partic-
mainly on Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) model (e.g., Conner et al., ipants with BC.
2006; Newth & Delongis, 2004). Until now, only Dirik & Karanci Hypothesis 3 Clinical samples of the females differ with respect to
(2010) had observed that resource loss, as described by COR theory, body image profiles from the healthy control group of females.
was the strongest predictor of depression of all studied psychosocial Hypothesis 4 Female participants with RA differ with respect to body
variables, and this effect was most visible among female RA patients. image profiles from female participants with BC.
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2 | M E TH O D importance to several resources, represented by objects, states, or

conditions, while in part B, they rated the extent to which they pos-
2.1 | Participants and procedure sess these resources. The items in parts A and B refer to the fol-
lowing resources: hedonistic and vital resources, spiritual resources,
The study sample comprised 328 females, including 141 women family resources, economic and political resources, and power and
with RA, 102 with a BC diagnosis, and 85 healthy women (i.e., with prestige resources. Higher scores on the COR-E indicate higher lev-
no chronic diseases), and was collected from the general popula- els of resources.
tion. The female participants with RA were recruited from the pa- Participants' body image was evaluated using the
tients of the National Institute of Geriatrics, Rheumatology, and Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ), con-
Rehabilitation in Warsaw, Poland. The female participants with BC structed by Thomas Cash (2000) and adapted to Polish by Brytek-
were recruited from the Magodent Oncology Hospital in Warsaw. Matera and Rogoza (2015). We paid an appropriate nominal fee
The healthy control group was recruited from a nonclinical popula- for the use of the MBSRQ in this particular research. The MBSRQ
tion among the students of various Warsaw universities. consists of 10 scales that evaluate several elements associated with
The study subjects filled out paper-and-pencil questionnaires body image: the appearance evaluation scale, the appearance ori-
and participated in the study voluntarily, and thus, no remuneration entation scale, the fitness evaluation scale, the fitness orientation
was provided for participation. In cases of clinical samples, the eligi- scale, the health evaluation scale, the health orientation scale, the
bility criteria encompassed being 18 years of age or older and having illness orientation scale, the body areas satisfaction scale, the over-
a confirmed medical diagnosis of RA or BC, which was screened by weight preoccupation scale, and the self-classified weight scale. The
medical doctors working in the hospitals where the research was higher the results in each subscale, the more positive the assessment
conducted. The exclusion criteria for clinical samples included cogni- of particular aspects of body image was reported by a participant.
tive impairment, vision loss, or major joint changes that limited writ-
ing skills among RA patients and a poor emotional state among BC
patients, which was diagnosed by clinical psychologists. For the non- 2.3 | Data analysis
clinical sample, the inclusion criteria encompassed being 18 years of
age or older and self-declaring no chronic illnesses. The research The introductory portion of this study's statistical analysis comprised
project was approved by the ethics committee. Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics between the analyzed variables. The principal
sociodemographic characteristics of all study participants with sta- part of the analysis was performed with the use of a discriminant
tistical tests for differences between the groups. analysis (Mclachlan, 2004). Discriminant analysis is a statistical analy-
The groups differed in terms of participants' age, education, em- sis used to verify associations between interval explanatory variables
ployment, and place of residence. Post hoc analysis revealed that par- and categorical outcome variables. It creates variates called discrimi-
ticipants from the control group were significantly younger than RA nant functions that consist of interval explanatory variables. These
patients, p < .001, and BC patients, p < .001. The number of married variates are then used to discriminate between the outcome variable
participants was significantly higher in the RA group than in control categories, which allows for an analysis of between-group differences
2 2
group, χ (1) = 4.87, p < .05, and the BC group, χ (1) = 11.28, p < .01. regarding the levels of analyzed variables and the differences between
Education level was lower in the BC group than in the control group, them. Group membership was analyzed using the grouping variable;
χ2(1) = 16.04, p < .001, and the RA group, χ2(1) = 10.40, p < .01. the levels of resources and body image dimensions were analyzed
Education level in the RA group was also significantly better than in as independent variables using two separate statistical models. The
2
the control group, χ (1) = 11.31, p < .01. The number of participants control group and both clinical groups significantly differed in terms
without regular unemployment was significantly bigger in the control of age and other differences, including education and employment,
group than in the RA group, χ2(3) = 54.72, p < .001, and the BC group, which were consequences of this age variability. The differences be-
χ2(1) = 100.69, p < .001. The number of participants living on the village tween groups in terms of demographic variables were verified with
or in a small town was significantly bigger in the BC group, and the the use of a one-way ANOVA and Pearson's χ test for independence.
number of participants living in cities with over 500 thousand residents The mean age of participants from the control group was lower than
was significantly bigger in the control group, χ2(3) = 46.30, p < .001. the mean values of age in both clinical groups. More participants from
the control group had received secondary education, were unem-
ployed, and lived in cities with over 500 thousand residents.
2.2 | Measures The difference in participants' ages was controlled for in both
statistical models. The choice of discriminant functions was based
To assess the level of subjectively possessed resources among the on Wilks's lambda test (Mclachlan, 2004), which allows for the de-
participants, we used the COR evaluation questionnaire (COR-E; ciding of how many extracted variates discriminate between the
Hobfoll, Lilly, & Jackson, 1992) in the Polish adaptation of Dudek et categories of outcome variables. The interpretation of the acquired
al. (2006). The COR-E consists of two parts (A and B), each with 40 discriminant functions, when significant, was based on the values of
items. In part A, participants rated the extent to which they attach standardized canonical discriminant function coefficients. A positive
 21579032, 2020, 1, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/brb3.1488 by Cochrane Mexico, Wiley Online Library on [13/05/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
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TA B L E 1   Sociodemographic variables
Group
in the studied samples
Control RA BC
Variable (N = 85) (N = 141) (N = 102) F/χ 2 p

Age in years 25.89 ± 10.19 57.26 ± 12.36 54.45 ± 15.02 152.94 .001

(M ± SD)
Marital status
Married 53 (62.4%) 66 (64.7%) 79 (56.0%) 2.57 .277
Single 32 (37.6%) 34 (33.3%) 62 (44.0%)
Education
Elementary 0 (0%) 5 (4.9%) 23 (16.3%) 26.41 .001
Secondary 57 (67.1%) 49 (48.0%) 73 (51.8%)
Higher 28 (32.9%) 48 (47.1%) 45 (31.9%)
education
Employment
Full 28 (32.9%) 20 (19.6%) 51 (36.2%) 123.45 .001
employment
Unemployed 54 (63.5%) 0 (0%) 10 (7.1%)
Illness 1 (1.2%) 6 (5.9%) 25 (17.7%)
allowance
Retired 2 (2.4%) 12 (11.8%) 55 (39.0%)
Place of residence
Village, small 13 (15.3%) 13 (12.7%) 44 (31.2%) 51.03 .001
town up to
20 thousand
residents
City 21 to 100 2 (2.4%) 2 (2.0%) 27 (19.1%)
thousand
residents
City 101 1 (1.2%) 2 (2.0%) 19 (13.5%)
to 500
thousand
residents
City over 500 67 (78.8%) 21 (20.6%) 49 (34.8%)
thousand
residents
Lack of 1 (1.2%) 0 (0%) 1 (0.7%)
permanent
residence

Abbreviations: F, analysis of variance; M, mean value; SD, standard deviation; χ2, Pearson chi-
squared test of independence.

correlation meant there was a positive association between the ex- 3 | R E S U LT S
planatory interval variable and the extracted variate. A positive and
a negative correlation between interval variables in the same vari- Table 2 presents the descriptive statistics for all analyzed interval
ate meant that the difference between the two interval variables variables in the study samples.
discriminated between the categories of the outcome variable. The The skewness and kurtosis values fell between −1 and 1, and thus,
values of the functions at the group centroids were depicted on the use of parametric statistical methods was appropriate. To verify
graphs to make the interpretation easier. A partial eta-squared (η2) Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2, a discriminant analysis was performed.
effect size measure was used to make the interpretation of effect The levels of all five types of resources and participants' ages were
sizes possible. Following the classic guidelines of Cohen (1988), the analyzed as independent variables. Table 3 presents the values of the
values of η2 should be interpreted as small if the values are less than standardized canonical discriminant function coefficients. Wilks's
.06, medium if the values are in the range from .06 to .14, and large lambda test revealed that only the first function, χ2(12) = 200.07, was
if the values are greater than .14. statistically significant (p < .001). The second function, χ2(5) = 7.43, was
 21579032, 2020, 1, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/brb3.1488 by Cochrane Mexico, Wiley Online Library on [13/05/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
RZESZUTEK et al. |
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statistically insignificant (p > .05), which means only the first discrimi- p < .001, was statistically significant, and the second function was sta-
nant function discriminated between the analyzed groups. tistically significant, χ2(10) = 49.10, p < .001, which means only the first
The highest values of standardized coefficients in the first dis- discriminant function discriminated between the analyzed groups.
criminant function were obtained for the level of hedonistic and Besides participants' ages, the first function was that of the rela-
vital resources and for the level of family resources. However, tionship between health orientation, orientation to the disease, and
the value for hedonistic and vital resources was positive, while health assessment. The values of health orientation and orientation
the value for family resources was negative, which indicates that to the disease were positive, and the value of health assessment was
group differences are explained by the difference between these negative, which indicates that the difference between health assess-
two variables. Figure 1 presents the values of these functions at ment and health orientation and that between health assessment
the group centroids. The first (and the only statistically significant) and orientation to the disease accounted for the between-group
function differentiated between the control group and both clin- differences. The second function was the function of fitness ori-
ical samples. entation, satisfaction with the areas of the body, evaluation of ap-
The structure of the mean level of hedonistic and vital resources pearance, fitness assessment, and preoccupation with weight. All
and family resources shows that the level of hedonistic and vital values of these body dimensions were positive. Figure 3 presents
resources was higher in the control group, while the level of family the values of the functions at the group centroids. The first function
resources was higher in the clinical groups, η2 = .21, which supports differentiated between the control group and the RA group, and the
Hypothesis 1 (see Figure 2). The RA and BC groups did not differ with second function differentiated between the BC group and both the
regard to the levels of resources, which contradicts Hypothesis 2. control group and the RA group.
Hypothesis 3 and Hypothesis 4 were also verified using a discrim-
inant analysis, but this time, body image dimensions and participants' TA B L E 3   Standardized canonical discriminant function
ages were analyzed as independent variables. Table 4 presents the val- coefficients for the level of resources
ues of the standardized canonical discriminant function coefficients.
Level of resources Function 1 Function 2
According to Wilks's lambda test, the first function, χ2(22) = 276.52,
Hedonistic and vital resources −1.32 0.24

TA B L E 2   Descriptive statistics and pearson correlation Spiritual resources 0.01 −0.57

coefficients between analyzed variables in the whole study sample Family resources 0.82 0.11
(N = 328)
Economic and political 0.27 1.06
resources
Variables M SD S K
Power and prestige resources 0.27 −0.14
1. Hedonistic and vital 146.35 57.93 −0.30 −0.26
resources Age 0.70 0.56

2. Spiritual resources 104.75 33.76 0.58 3.37 Note: Positive values of standardized canonical discriminant function
3. family resources 153.72 50.40 −0.40 −0.82 mean that the higher the values of resources, the higher the values of
extracted discriminant function, negative values meant that the higher
4. Economic and politi- 111.03 45.08 0.82 0.86 the values of resources, the lower the values of extracted discriminant
cal resources function.
5. Power and prestige 40.00 24.16 0.32 0.92
resources
6. Appearance 3.30 0.77 0.80 0.87
evaluation
7. Appearance 3.35 0.61 0.32 0.46
orientation
8. Fitness evaluation 3.02 0.83 −0.01 −0.13
9. Fitness orientation 3.06 0.74 0.77 0.69
10. Health evaluation 3.22 0.66 −0.14 0.36
11. Health orientation 3.40 0.58 −0.30 0.46
12. Illness orientation 3.39 0.73 0.13 0.36
13. Overweight 2.58 0.83 0.13 −0.59
preoccupation
14. Body areas 3.28 0.77 0.41 0.97
satisfaction
15. Self-classified 3.27 0.76 0.20 0.80
weight scale

Abbreviations: K, kurtosis; M, mean value; S, skewness; SD, standard F I G U R E 1   The values of the functions at group centroids in all
deviation. study samples
 21579032, 2020, 1, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/brb3.1488 by Cochrane Mexico, Wiley Online Library on [13/05/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
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6 of 10       RZESZUTEK et al.

F I G U R E 2   Profiles of hedonistic and vital resources and

family resources in control group and clinical samples with
95% confidence intervals computed with the use of Bonferroni
correction

F I G U R E 3   The values of the functions for body image at group

TA B L E 4   Standardized canonical discriminant function centroids in all study samples
coefficients for body image scales

Body image Function 1 Function 2

resources but higher levels of family resources compared with those
Appearance evaluation −0.04 0.30
of the healthy control group. At the same time, we did not find any
Appearance orientation −0.33 −0.17 differences in the profiles of resources between the clinical samples,
Fitness evaluation 0.02 0.30 and thus, no confirmation of Hypothesis 2 was obtained. It seems
Fitness orientation 0.16 0.60 that living with RA or BC may result in similar resource evaluations,
Health evaluation −0.59 −0.19 and this finding is interesting in itself because no previous studies
Health orientation 0.72 −0.33 have been conducted on this topic thus far. However, in comparison
Illness orientation 0.42 0.23 with healthy individuals, RA patients and BC patients mainly expe-
Overweight preoccupation −0.08 0.32 rience a lack vigor and energy and problems related to the active

Body areas satisfaction 0.06 0.37

pursuit of one's interests and goals or the search for pleasure or
enjoyment. This latter result is especially prevalent in RA patients,
Self-classified weight scale 0.18 0.21
for whom one of the central symptoms is chronic fatigue (Pollard,
Age 0.93 −0.05
Choy, Gonzalez, Khoshaba, & Scott, 2006), which is strongly re-
Note: Positive values of standardized canonical discriminant function lated to daily pain, sleep problems, and depression (Nicassio et al.,
mean that the higher the values of body image dimension, the higher
2012). Importantly, some authors have observed that females with
the values of extracted discriminant function, negative values meant
that the higher the values of body image dimension, the lower the RA report more fatigue when compared to men with RA and thus
values of extracted discriminant function. experience much higher rates of RA pain and functional limitations
(Thyberg et al., 2009). Similarly, several studies have pointed to the
Figure 4 presents the mean values of health orientation, orienta- prevalence of cancer-related fatigue among females with BC, which
tion to the disease, and health assessment in the control group and may be observed during treatment (Ancoli-Israel et al., 2006) but
the RA group only. The acquired differences support Hypothesis 3, are especially observed after mastectomy (Bardwell et al., 2008).
η2 = .08. In addition, experiencing the studied illnesses may increase the
Figure 5 presents the mean values of fitness evaluation, fitness subjective importance of family relationships. This corresponds to
orientation, appearance evaluation, weight preoccupation, and body several systematic reviews that show that one of the most important
area satisfaction in the control group, the RA group, and the BC predictors for quality of life and illness adaptation among both RA pa-
group. The means of all the aforementioned variables were lower in tients (Sharpe, 2016) and BC patients (Mols, Vingerhoets, Coebergh,
2
the BC group than in the RA group or the control group, η  = .06, and & Poll-Franse, 2005) is satisfaction gained through close family re-
these differences are in line with Hypothesis 4. lationships. More specifically, for females with RA or BC, the major
sources of support stem from intimate relationships, as these diseases
pose multidimensional problems to self-esteem because they are es-
4 |  D I S CU S S I O N pecially associated with sexual problems (Essam et al., 2016; Pumo et
al., 2012).
The results of our study were in line with Hypothesis 1, as females This latter observation was somewhat observed while con-
from the clinical groups declared lower levels of vital and hedonistic firming Hypothesis 3, which is related to body image profiles; in
 21579032, 2020, 1, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/brb3.1488 by Cochrane Mexico, Wiley Online Library on [13/05/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
RZESZUTEK et al. |
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F I G U R E 4   Profiles of health
orientation, orientation for the disease,
and health assessment in the control
group and the RA groups with 95%
confidence intervals computed with the
use of Bonferroni correction

F I G U R E 5   Profiles of fitness
evaluation, satisfaction with the Aareas
of the body, appearance orientation,
fitness assessment, and preoccupation
with weight in the control group, the RA
sample and the BC sample

the clinical sample of RA, greater health and disease orientation lives, is a great psychological burden (Helms et al., 2008; Shichen
were noticed, while in the control group, a more positive health et al., 2018; Puigpinós-Riera et al., 2018) and may be responsi-
evaluation was observed. In other words, it seems that females ble for the very poor body satisfaction observed among the BC
from the RA sample experienced their body image as a function of participants.
the illness's progression, which is in line with some recent studies
(e.g., Boyington et al., 2015; Vinoski-Thomas, Warren-Findlow, &
Webb, 2019). However, one of the most interesting but somewhat 4.1 | Strengths and limitations
counterintuitive results deals with Hypothesis 4, which relates to
the differences in body image profiles between RA females and This theory-driven study is the first comparative research on re-
BC females. Namely, compared with BC females, RA females de- source evaluation to use the COR theory and body image between
clared a greater fitness evaluation and fitness orientation, higher these two clinical samples with an additional healthy control group,
weight preoccupation, increased body area satisfaction, and bet- which is its strength. However, we should bear in mind that the
ter appearance evaluation. Women with BC have a very distorted cross-sectional design of the study makes it difficult to draw a causal
body image, as they perceive their bodies as incomplete, having conclusion from the obtained results. Specifically, due to the study's
had a symbol of femininity and sexuality (i.e., the breasts) taken design, we were able to assess not resource loss nor resource gain
away from them regardless of whether or not they have under- over time among the participants, but only the current level of the
gone mastectomy (Gumus et al., 2010). This state of constant in- subjectively assessed resources. In addition, the study samples dif-
security, relating not only to their femininity but also to their very fered substantially regarding many demographic variables. These
 21579032, 2020, 1, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/brb3.1488 by Cochrane Mexico, Wiley Online Library on [13/05/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
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healthy group and the clinical samples. Finally, we did not have data
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Journal of Applied Psychology, 101, 141–150. https​://doi.org/10.1037/

apl00​0 0033​ How to cite this article: Rzeszutek M, Pięta M, Huzar M.
Vinoski-Thomas, E., Warren-Findlow, J., & Webb, J. (2019). Yoga is for Profiles of resources and body image in health and illness: A
every (Able) body: A content analysis of disability themes within
comparative study among females with rheumatoid arthritis,
Mainstream yoga media. International Journal of Yoga, 12, 68–72.
https​://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_25_18 females with breast cancer and healthy controls. Brain Behav.
World Health Organization. (2018). Preventing chronic diseases: A vital 2020;10:e01488. https​://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1488
investment. Retrieved from https​ ://www.who.int/chp/knowl​ edge/
publi​c atio​ns/en/