Social Support Mediates the Relationship between Body Image Distress and Depressive Symptoms in Prostate Cancer Patients

Cristiano Scandurra, Benedetta Muzii, Roberto La Rocca, Francesco Di Bello, Mario Bottone, Gianluigi Califano, Nicola Longo, Nelson Mauro Maldonato and Francesco Mangiapia
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Cristiano Scandurra: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
Benedetta Muzii: Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Naples Federico II, 80133 Naples, Italy
Roberto La Rocca: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
Francesco Di Bello: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
Mario Bottone: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
Gianluigi Califano: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
Nicola Longo: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
Nelson Mauro Maldonato: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
Francesco Mangiapia: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 8, 1-10

Abstract: Treatments for prostate cancer (PCa), the second most common cancer in men, may affect the body image (BI) of patients, increasing the risk of negative mental health outcomes. However, an enabling social support network may be a protective factor against the effects of BI distress on health. Therefore, the present study examined the mediating role of social support in the relationship between BI distress and depressive symptoms. Data were retrospectively collected from 197 PCa patients aged from 48 to 79 years ( M = 67.19; SD = 6.83). The statistical package for the social sciences with PROCESS Macro was used to assess the direct and mediating effects with bias-corrected bootstrapping (10,000 samples). Results showed that BI distress was positively associated with depressive symptoms and that social support partially mediated this relationship. Moreover, among the different sources of social support, only friend support significantly mediated the association between BI distress and depressive symptoms. This study sheds light on the crucial role of social support as a dimension that can promote health in PCa patients.

Keywords: prostate cancer; social support; body image; depressive symptoms; mediation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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