Spirituality and Cancer Screening

Cultural Factors in Cancer Screening

Faculty Investigator: Alexis Abernethy

This study seeks to identify religiously based illness perceptions of cancer screening including relationships among religious factors, fatalism, illness perceptions, and colorectal and prostate cancer screening behavior. Long-term goals include the development of culturally competent interventions for different ethnic groups that target cultural factors and perspectives.

Dr. Abernethy and her students are analyzing data from the study, “Understanding Cultural Factors in Cancer Screening,” that was funded by the National Cancer Institute ($206,397). The study involved a two-phased exploration into the cultural factors among African American men that facilitate and impede colorectal and prostate cancer screening. The qualitative phase involved focus groups of clergy and interviews of African American men to identify key themes related to religious attributions about cancer.

The second phase examines the relationship between religious and fatalistic attributions regarding cancer and cancer screening behavior and attitudes in 450 African American men. Abernethy’s research makes an important contribution by focusing on cultural factors, religiousness, and fatalism that have been examined more frequently in African American women than African American men. Long-term goals are to conduct research guided by theoretical frameworks that incorporate cultural perspectives, identify culturally relevant factors related to health behavior in different ethnic groups, understand what mechanisms explain these associations, and develop culturally competent interventions.

Research Team: Dione Johnson, Stephen McGee, Ramona Rebeck, and Brittany Rice