Body Image, Perceived Social Stigma and Long-Term Psychological Adjustment in Burn Survivors: a Prospective Longitudinal Study

Background: The present study will employ a prospective longitudinal design to investigate body image, perceived social stigma, and long-term psychological consequences of burn survivors. Studies have shown that most burn survivors do not develop psychological disorders and have a good quality of life; however, a "sizable minority" still develop long-term psychological maladjustments, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, major depression, and anxiety disorders. In comparison with other physical or psychological traumas, the common sequelae of burn injuries are visible scars and appearance changes, and survivors have to live with scars permanently. Studies have shown that burn scars and appearance changes often lead to dissatisfaction with body image, and survivors often face unfriendly social stigma behaviors (e.g., stare, point, or startle reactions). These conditions may be one of the major contributing factors to long-term psychological maladjustment of burn survivors. Accordingly, the present study will prospectively investigate the associations among body image dissatisfaction, perceived social stigma and long-term psychological adjustment of burn survivors, with the later mainly focusing on depression symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and prolonged grief. Method: Study recruitment will occur in the Burn Center of Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital via referral from physicians. Potential participants will include 200 general burn survivors and burn survivors of the 2015 Formosa Fun Coast Water Park explosion. General burn survivors will participate in a three-wave prospective investigation six months (Time 1), one year (Time 2) and two years (Time 3) after burn injury. Burn survivors of the Formosa Fun Coast Water Park explosion will participate in an investigation five years after the incident. In each investigation, participants will be administered a set of questionnaires, which takes about 30-40 minutes. Moreover, we will invite 6-8 participants to participate in a qualitative interview. Expected Aims: This study intends to explore long-term psychological adjustment of burn survivors as well as the impacts of body image dissatisfaction, perceived social stigma, and other variables (demographic, burn and other psychosocial variables) on long-term psychological adjustment. Moreover, longitudinal trajectories of body image dissatisfaction and perceived social stigma and the associated covariates will be investigated.

Project ID:PF10901-1114
External Project ID:MOST108-2410-H182-006-MY2