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Breast cancer and sexuality: an explorative study on psychological and affective aspects
Journal Title: RIVISTA DI SESSUOLOGIA CLINICA 
Author/s: Federica Giampà, Stefano Magno, Laura Agostini, Annalisa Di Micco, Claudia Maggiore, Bianca Maria De Cesaris, Roberta Rossi, Chiara Simonelli, Filippo Maria Nimbi 
Year:  2021 Issue: 2 Language: Italian 
Pages:  16 Pg. 5-20 FullText PDF:  195 KB
DOI:  10.3280/RSC2021-002001
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Breast cancer is the most frequent form of cancer and, even today, although there has been an improvement in prognosis, it remains the leading cause of cancer death in women. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of life and investigate the psychological, sexological and affective aspects in women with breast cancer, comparing them with a control group and identifying possible differences. The protocol, consisting of self-report tools, was administered to 97 women divided into two groups: the clinical group (n = 44 women with breast can-cer) and the control group (n = 53 postmenopausal women). The analyzes sought to investigate which domains determined the significance in the comparison be-tween the two groups. Sexual (FSFI) and distress (FSDS) functioning, psychological (SCL-90-R) and emotional (PANAS) functioning were assessed. Women with iatrogenic menopausal breast cancer showed greater sexual diffi-culties than women in natural menopause. Similarly, symptoms such as anxiety and depression are present to a greater or lesser extent in women in natural meno-pause, while they acquire greater value in those in which menopause has been in-duced early. The data that emerge from the study have significant implications both for future research and for the clinic, underlining how the biopsychosocial perspective is fundamental to fully understand the personal and relational experi-ence connected to the pathology.
Keywords: breast cancer, sexuality, femininity, welfare, psychological aspects, adulthood.

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Federica Giampà, Stefano Magno, Laura Agostini, Annalisa Di Micco, Claudia Maggiore, Bianca Maria De Cesaris, Roberta Rossi, Chiara Simonelli, Filippo Maria Nimbi, Breast cancer and sexuality: an explorative study on psychological and affective aspects in "RIVISTA DI SESSUOLOGIA CLINICA" 2/2021, pp. 5-20, DOI:10.3280/RSC2021-002001

   

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