Body Image Concerns of Breast Augmentation Patients

TLDR

The study examined body‑image concerns among women seeking cosmetic breast augmentation. Thirty candidates and thirty matched controls completed body‑image questionnaires before consultation. Candidates reported greater breast dissatisfaction, larger ideal and preferred breast sizes, higher appearance investment, more distress and teasing, and increased psychotherapy use compared with controls, confirming and extending prior research.

Abstract

This study investigated the body image concerns of women who sought cosmetic breast augmentation. Thirty breast augmentation candidates completed several measures of body image before their initial surgical consultation. Thirty physically similar women who were not interested in breast augmentation were recruited from the medical center and university community and also completed the measures. Breast augmentation candidates, as compared with women not seeking augmentation, reported greater dissatisfaction with their breasts. Augmentation candidates rated their ideal breast size, as well as the breast size preferred by women, as significantly larger than did controls. In addition, women interested in breast augmentation reported greater investment in their appearance, greater distress about their appearance in a variety of situations, and more frequent teasing about their appearance. Finally, breast augmentation candidates also reported more frequent use of psychotherapy in the year before the operation as compared with women not seeking augmentation. These results replicate and extend previous studies of body image in cosmetic surgery patients.