Abstract
Background: Various instruments used to measure social support have emphasized the importance of examining the relationships between this interpersonal-level factor and specific health outcomes among cancer survivors. Through these instruments, an increase in certain factors of social support (i.e. sources of social support, type of social support, etc.) have been shown to improve the quality of life among cancer survivors. Unfortunately, social support instruments were not developed specifically for African American cancer survivors and therefore may not address the cultural contexts of this population. Objective: To conduct a systematic review examining the cultural contexts of social support instruments used with African American cancer survivors. Methods: PubMed, PsychINFO, and EMBASE were utilized to identify full-text quantitative articles that 1) possessed a study sample of at least 50% African American cancer survivors, and 2) referenced or documented the psychometric properties of the social support instrument. Results: We screened 1,161 titles and 113 abstracts. Eleven articles met the eligibility criteria and used nine different social support instruments. Only one of the instruments, the Ways of Coping Questionnaire, was developed with a sample of African American cancer survivors. The remaining instruments were piloted with study samples that were either comprised of racially diverse undergraduates (n=4), married couples (n=1), breast cancer survivors (n=2), or individuals with various chronic illnesses (n=1). The Ways of Coping Questionnaire, was the only instrument that inquired about support from church members and God. Four of the remaining instruments, solely focused on support from other informal sources (i.e. family, friends, significant others). Emotional support was also observed to be the most prevalent type of social support within five of the nine instruments. Conclusion: African American cancer survivors were rarely represented during the development of social support instruments. As a result, the unique experiences and cultural contexts of African American cancer survivors are not adequately assessed by these commonly used social support instruments. Therefore, the science of survivorship, particularly with African American cancer survivors, suffers from the notable gap of cultural contexts when measuring social support. Moreover, additional types of social support (i.e. instrumental social support, belonging social support, and tangible social support), were rarely captured within the instruments despite their influence on the overall quality of life among cancer survivors. Developing an instrument that is initially piloted among African American cancer survivors would generate a better understanding of how different factors of social support may impact the overall quality of life of this population.
Citation Format: Shaila M Strayhorn, Perla Chebli, Catherine Pichardo, Yamilé Molina, Carol J Ferrans, Kimlin T. Ashing. Evaluating cultural contexts in social support instruments used with African American cancer survivors: A systematic review [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr D024.
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