An Examination of Women’s Self-Presentation, Social Physique Anxiety, and Setting Preferences during Injury Rehabilitation

• Main Authors: Molly V. Driediger, Carly D. McKay, Craig R. Hall
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2017-01-01
• Series: Rehabilitation Research and Practice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/6126509

Objectives. This study investigated whether women experience self-presentational concerns related to rehabilitation settings and explored preferences for characteristics of the social and physical treatment environment in relation to women’s Social Physique Anxiety (SPA). Methods. Two cross-sectional studies were conducted. In Study 1, female undergraduate students (n=134) completed four questionnaires (Social Physique Anxiety Scale; three bespoke questionnaires assessing self-presentation in rehabilitation and social and physical environment preferences) with respect to hypothetical rehabilitation scenarios. Study 2 recruited injured women who were referred for physiotherapy (n=62) to complete the same questionnaires regarding genuine rehabilitation scenarios. Results. Women with high SPA showed less preference for physique salient clothing than women with low SPA in both hypothetical (p=0.001) and genuine settings (p=0.01). In Study 2, women with high SPA also preferred that others in the clinic were female (p=0.01) and reported significantly greater preference for private treatment spaces (p=0.05). Conclusions. Self-presentational concerns exist in rehabilitation as in exercise settings. Results indicated inverse relationships between women’s SPA and preference for the presence of men, physique-enhancing clothing, and open-concept treatment settings. Future studies to determine the effect of self-presentational concerns on treatment adherence are needed.