Visible vs hidden scars and their relation to body esteem.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Dermatology

Background:

• Previous research on burn scarring, body esteem, and social adjustment often used small samples.
• Understanding the impact of burn characteristics on psychological well-being is essential for effective patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between burn scar severity and visibility, and body esteem in a large sample of burn survivors.
• To identify factors influencing social and emotional adjustment in individuals with burn scars.

Main Methods:

• A survey was mailed to 2500 members of a national burn survivor support group, with 361 participants completing questionnaires.
• Measures included burn characteristics (e.g., total body surface area - TBSA, scar visibility), social stigmatization, social support, depression, and body esteem.
• Multiple regression analysis was used to predict body esteem, with burn characteristics, demographics, and psychosocial factors entered in blocks.

Main Results:

• Visible scarring had statistically significant but low correlations with self-satisfaction with appearance (-.19) and perception of others' reactions (-.27).
• Visible scarring was unrelated to self-satisfaction with weight (.01) but showed a low correlation with perceived stigmatization (.23).
• Burn characteristics explained less than 20% of the variance in body esteem; social adjustment and depression accounted for the largest portion (R-squared = .62).

Conclusions:

• In this sample, burn scar visibility and severity did not strongly predict social and emotional adjustment.
• Psychosocial interventions are needed to help burn survivors accept scars, manage depression, and develop robust support systems.
• Further research should focus on developing and evaluating targeted psychosocial interventions for burn survivors.