Abstract A42: Racial differences in cultural values for cancer prevention and control

Increasingly, cultural beliefs and values are being recognized as important to decision-making about cancer prevention and control. While empirical data are emerging on the relationship between cultural factors and prevention and control behaviors, this research has been conducted in only racial group using general instruments that were developed and validated in this population. To address this limitation, we conducted a multi-phased psychometric study to identify cultural values for cancer prevention and control in a racially and ethnically diverse sample and evaluate the properties of a multi-dimensional cultural values assessment tool (MCVAT). Subjects were 315 African American, 233 white, and 97 Hispanic adult men and women who participated in qualitative research to identify cultural values for cancer prevention and control (n=212) and a quantitative survey (n=430) to evaluate the psychometric properties of the MCVAT. In Phase I, values related to religion and spirituality (e.g., important to rely on God to prevent cancer), temporal orientation (e.g., use past health care experiences to make decisions about cancer screening), individualism (e.g., I should decide for myself when to have cancer screening), and collectivism (e.g., important to consider the impact on family members when making decisions about cancer screening) were identified through focus groups with study participants; items were generated to assess these values using an iterative process. In Phase II, we evaluated the psychometric properties of the MCVAT. Consistent with the results in Phase I, three reliable factors for religion (Cronbach's alpha=0.95), collectivism (Cronbach's alpha=0.80), and individualism (Cronbach's alpha=0.75) were identified using exploratory factor analysis. Analysis of variance was used to evaluate the discriminate validity of cultural factors; religious values for cancer prevention and control were significantly different between African Americans, whites, and Hispanics (F=89.99, p=0.0001). Further, compared to whites, African Americans and Hispanics reported significantly greater levels of familial values for cancer prevention and control (F=3.09, p=0.05). Our findings demonstrate that specific cultural values for may be important for cancer prevention and control among African Americans, whites, and Hispanics.