The Role of Spirituality in the Breast Cancer Experiences of African American Women

AbstractObjectiveWhile the role of nutrition, physical activity and body size on breast cancer risk has been extensively investigated, most of these studies were conducted in Caucasian populations. However, there are well-known differences in tumour biology and the prevalence of these factors between African-American and Caucasian women. The objective of the present paper was to conduct a review of the role of dietary factors, anthropometry and physical activity on breast cancer risk in African-American women.DesignTwenty-six research articles that presented risk estimates on these factors in African-American women and five articles involving non-US black women were included in the current review.SettingRacial disparities in the impact of anthropometric and nutritional factors on breast cancer risk.SubjectsAfrican-American and non-US black women.ResultsBased on the few studies that presented findings in African-American women, an inverse association with physical activity was found for pre- and postmenopausal African-American women, while the association for anthropometric and other dietary factors, such as alcohol, was unclear. Studies assessing the effect by molecular subtypes in African-American women were too few and based on sample sizes too small to provide definitive conclusions.ConclusionsThe effect of certain nutrition and lifestyle factors on breast cancer in African-American women is not starkly distinct from those observed in white women. However, there is an enormous need for further research on this minority group to obtain more confirmatory findings.

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The Role of Spiritual Health Locus of Control in Breast Cancer Information Processing between African American and Caucasian Women

Integrative Medicine Insights ◽

10.1177/117863370600100004 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 117863370600100

Author(s):

Glenn Leshner ◽

I-Huei Cheng ◽

Hyun Joo Song ◽

Yoonhyueng Choi ◽

Cynthia Frisby

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

African American ◽

African American Women ◽

Behavioral Intentions ◽

Spiritual Health ◽

Cancer Information ◽

Perceived Efficacy ◽

American Women ◽

Caucasian Women

Spirituality seems to be an important cultural factor for African American women when thinking about their health. It is, however, not clear how spiritual health locus of control (SLOC) impacts health-related outcomes in the context of health message processing models, such as the Extended Parallel Process and the Risk Perception Attitude framework. Using a survey of African American and Caucasian women in the context of breast cancer, the role of SLOC and its interactions with perceived efficacy and risk was examined on four health outcomes–-message acceptance, talking about breast cancer, information seeking, and behavioral intentions. For African American women, SLOC had a positive impact for talking about breast cancer through an interaction with risk and efficacy such that women high in both SLOC and perceived efficacy, but low in perceived risk were more likely to talk about breast cancer than when efficacy was low. However, high SLOC exacerbated the negative effects of efficacy on talking about breast cancer regardless of the risk level for Caucasian women. SLOC also had a positive influence on attending to breast cancer information in the media for African American women. SLOC played no role in attending to breast cancer information for Caucasian women. Interestingly, SLOC played no role for African American women on behavioral intentions, however, it worked to decrease behavioral intentions for Caucasian women when risk was high.

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