Abstract
Background: The psychological features of the body image and the role of perceived social support for women with diastasis recti abdominis (DRAM) is significant for the treatment of this group of patients, but it is difficult to identify research on this topic. We aimed to search for similarities and differences between postpartum women with DRAM in terms of their psychological features of the body image and perceived social support from the partner, family and friends.Methods: Three hundred forty-five Polish women with DRAM were asked to fill the The Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ), The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and The Drawing Self-Assessment Sheet. Data analysis included the stepwise regression analysis and k-cluster analysis.Results: We identified several predictors in the group of women with DRAM. Social support of partner, family, and friends are the predictors of self-assessment of general body appearance. Social support of family is a predictor of self-assessment of the health of the body. Social support of friends is a predictor of self-esteem of weight and fear of gaining weight. Moreover, three clusters of women with DRAM were found. Type 1—women with DRAM with one child and low self-esteem of the general appearance of the body, low self-esteem of health condition of the body, high self-esteem of weight, and fear of weight gain, and low level of social support; Type 2—women with DRAM with three or more children and low self-esteem of the general appearance of the body, low self-esteem of health condition of the body, high self-esteem of weight and fear of weight gain, and high level of social support; and Type 3—women with DRAM with two children and high self-esteem for the general appearance of the body, high level of self-esteem for health of the body, low self-esteem of weight and fear of weight gain, and high levels of social support.Conclusions: Social support is a predictor of body image in women with DRAM, but there are other factors that influence body acceptance more in this group of women. Furthermore the three clusters featured in the study may help in treating women with DRAM.
Highlights
The diagnosis problem of the psychological features of the body image and the role of social support for women with diastasis recti abdominis muscles (DRAM) is a niche in scientific research, despite the fact that it is significant for the treatment and rehabilitation process of this group of patients
The Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ) comprises 69 questions grouped into 10 subscales clustered into three areas: self-assessment of the general appearance of the body and its individual parts— Appearance Evaluation (AE), Appearance Orientation (AO), and Body Areas Satisfaction (BASS); self-assessment of the health condition of the body—Health Evaluation (HE) and Health Orientation (HO); Illness Orientation (IO); Fitness Evaluation (FE), and Fitness Orientation (FO); and selfassessment of body weight and the level of fear of gaining weight—Overweight Preoccupation (OP) and Self-classified Weight (SCW)
The mean results obtained in the MBRSQ test for individual components of the body image were: (1) self-assessment of the general appearance of the body and its individual parts—AO: M = 40.99 (SD = 6.97), AE: M = 20.47 (SD = 7.16), BASS: M = 27.67 (SD = 6.74); (2) self-assessment of the health condition of the body—HO: M = 26.41, (SD = 5.22), HE: M = 21.44 (SD = 4.54), Illness orientation (IO): M = 15.49 (SD = 3.14), FO: M = 41.01 (SD = 10.83), FE: M = 9.48 (SD = 2.98); and (3) self-assessment of body weight and the level of fear of gaining weight—Self-Classified Weight (SCW): M = 6.54 (SD = 1.39), OP: M = 10.24 (SD = 3.5)
Summary
Research studies on the body image and its importance for psychophysical development are often described in psychological (Cash, 2004, 2017; Clark and Tiggemann, 2008; O’Dea, 2012; Dyera et al, 2013; Mantilla and Birgegård, 2015; Grogan, 2016; Izydorczyk et al, 2018, 2019, 2020; Tutkuviene et al, 2018; Alur-Gupta et al, 2019; Kertzman et al, 2019; Thomas et al, 2019; Haywood et al, 2020) and medical literature (Bolton et al, 2003; De Brito et al, 2010; Goodman et al, 2016; Anderson et al, 2017; Alur-Gupta et al, 2019; Bai et al, 2019), while in the physiotherapeutic literature, it is a rarely studied topic but important in the process of psychophysical rehabilitation of women with diastasis recti abdominis muscles (DRAM). Holistic understanding of health (WHO, 2011) and approach to the human being in the state of illness and experienced deficits related to movement and psychosomatics are important for women with DRAM who require comprehensive treatment and psycho-physical rehabilitation (Gonçalves Fernandes da Mota et al, 2015; Eriksson-Crommert et al, 2020; Gustavsson and Eriksson-Crommert, 2020). The diagnosis problem of the psychological features of the body image and the role of social support for women with DRAM is a niche in scientific research, despite the fact that it is significant for the treatment and rehabilitation process of this group of patients. The psychological features of the body image and the role of perceived social support for women with diastasis recti abdominis (DRAM) is significant for the treatment of this group of patients, but it is difficult to identify research on this topic. We aimed to search for similarities and differences between postpartum women with DRAM in terms of their psychological features of the body image and perceived social support from the partner, family and friends
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