An experimental study of exercise and physical self-esteem in breast cancer survivors

Breast cancer survivors experience late physical and psychological effects of treatment that diminish their fitness and self-esteem. Exercise improves physical fitness and self-esteem. However, for breast cancer survivors the most beneficial type of exercise program is unknown. This study examined the effect of exercise type on physical fitness and physical self-esteem. Aerobic exercise, resistance exercise and flexibility exercise were included. Exercise theory states that certain types of exercise result in specific changes in physical fitness. Physical self-esteem was studied because exercise is most related to this domain of self-esteem. It consist of sub-domains of physical conditioning, physical strength and body attractiveness. Different exercise affects different sub-domains. It was this type of change that was the focus of this study. The hypothesis tested were: (1) Aerobic (A) and resistance (R) exercise would enhance the subdomains of physical conditioning and physical strength, respectively; and both would result in an increase of attractive body. (2) A+R would lead to an increase in total physical self-esteem and global self-esteem greater than the single modality exercise programs. Flexibility was the control.; Methods. Women were randomly assigned to one of four 12-week home-based exercise programs: flexibility (F), aerobic (A), resistance (R), or aerobic plus resistance (A+R). Measures of physical fitness and self-esteem were taken before and after the exercise program.; Results. 42 women completed the study (F=12, A=10, R= 9, A+R=11). A change from pre to post study was seen in all subdomains of physical self-esteem as hypothesized. There were no differences between groups. All exercisers had a significant increase in physical self-esteem over time (F = 8.62, p = .006). Resistance exercise predicted for increases in abdominal strength and upper body strength. Resistance exercise combined with a decrease in fat mass predicted for an increased sense of physical strength, physical condition, and attractive body, and total physical self-esteem.; Conclusion. Participants increased their muscular strength and endurance, their total physical self-esteem including the sub-domains of physical conditioning, physical strength and attractive body.