Abstract
Adolescence is a period of development where body image, as part of a wider development of sense of self, is seen as a key task. Body changes due to cancer can be distressing and disrupt healthy body image development. Body image problems can be problematic and lead to eating disorders, low self-esteem and problems with peer relationships. Very little research has focused on whether there are particular body image issues for adolescent males with cancer. Seven males aged 14-21 who had experienced cancer were interviewed about their body image and the transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), which is an inductive, exploratory and idiographic approach to enable a rich understanding of the participants’ experiences. Four super-ordinate themes emerged which were “developing identity within a maturing male body with cancer”, “social role of the body in identity development”, “adolescent males do not readily talk about the body”, and “trying to feel normal in the context of cancer”. Clinical implications of the results are considered, along with areas for future research following on from this initial exploratory study.