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Social and cultural factors are related to perceived colorectal cancer screening benefits and intentions in African Americans

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Abstract

Models that explain preventive behaviors, such as colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, do not account for social and cultural factors relevant to African Americans. This exploratory study examined the relationship between socio-cultural factors (e.g., traditional acculturative strategy, group-based medical mistrust, physician ethnicity, and group-level perceptions of susceptibility) and perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and CRC screening intentions among African Americans (N = 198; Age: M = 59.7, SD = 9.9; 65% female; 44% household income $50,000+). Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test the following models with perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and screening intentions as the outcomes: (a) traditional acculturative strategy × medical mistrust; (b) physician’s ethnicity × medical mistrust; (c) group susceptibility × medical mistrust; and (d) group susceptibility × traditional acculturative strategy. Results revealed that perceiving high group susceptibility while being both more culturally traditional and less mistrustful was associated with more perception of screening benefits. Greater intention to be screened was associated with perceiving high group susceptibility while having a more traditional cultural orientation and low levels of mistrust in those with African American physicians. These results suggest that it may be beneficial to include these social and cultural factors in behavioral interventions to increase CRC screening among African Americans.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by grants from the National Cancer Institute (CA037420 and R25CA102618), the American Psychological Association, Minority Fellowship Program Dissertation Support Award (5T06SM56564-02), the Ohio State University Alumni Grants for Graduate Research & Scholarship, and the Society of Behavioral Medicine. This paper is based on a doctoral dissertation completed by Jason Purnell at the Ohio State University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Communication Research Laboratory, Washington University in St. Louis, 700 Rosedale Ave., Campus Box 1009, St. Louis, MO, 63112-1408, USA

    Jason Q. Purnell

  2. Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Mira L. Katz & Barbara L. Andersen

  3. University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA

    Oxana Palesh, Pascal Jean-Pierre & Nancy Bennett

  4. University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Colmar Figueroa-Moseley

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  1. Jason Q. Purnell
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Correspondence to Jason Q. Purnell.

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Purnell, J.Q., Katz, M.L., Andersen, B.L. et al. Social and cultural factors are related to perceived colorectal cancer screening benefits and intentions in African Americans. J Behav Med 33, 24–34 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-009-9231-6

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