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Belief in Divine Control, Coping, and Race/Ethnicity among Older Women with Breast Cancer

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Belief in divine control is often assumed to be fatalistic. However, the assumption has rarely been investigated in racial/ethnic minorities.

Objectives

This study aims to examine the association between belief in divine control and coping and how the association was moderated by ethnicity/acculturation in a multi-ethnic sample of breast cancer patients.

Methods

Latina, African American, and non-Hispanic White older women with newly diagnosed breast cancer (N = 257) from a population-based survey completed the scale of Belief in Divine Control and the Brief COPE.

Results

Belief in divine control was positively related to approach coping (i.e., positive reframing, active coping, and planning) in all ethnic groups. Belief in divine control was positively related to acceptance and negatively related to avoidance coping (i.e., denial and behavioral disengagement) among low-acculturated Latinas.

Conclusions

Negative presumptions about fatalistic implications of belief in divine control should be critically reappraised, especially when such skepticism is applied to racial/ethnic minority patients.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the California Breast Cancer Research Program of the University of California (Grant 4 PB-0161, Rose C. Maly, MD, MSPH, Principal Investigator) and by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Grant 036833, Rose C. Maly, MD, MSPH, Principal Investigator). Rose C. Maly was supported by the American Cancer Society (Grant TURSG-02-081-01-PBP, R. C. Maly, Principal Investigator) and the National Institute of Cancer (Grant 1R01CA119197-01A1, R. C. Maly, Principal Investigator). Yoshiko Umezawa was supported by the Diversity Supplement to Grant 7PB-070 as well as Grant 12GB-0070 from the California Breast Cancer Research Program of the University of California. Qian Lu was supported by the American Cancer Society (Grant MRSGT-10-011-01-CPPB, Q. Lu, Principal Investigator) and the Susan G. Komen Foundation (BCTR0707861, Q. Lu, Principal Investigator). We gratefully acknowledge editorial review and scientific comments by Michael Gross on an earlier version of the manuscript. We also thank Anthony DiStefano, Rebecca Crane-Okada, Wendy Wright, and Kimlin Ashing-Giwa for their editorial review on an earlier version of the manuscript. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Qian Lu, MD, PhD (qlu3@uh.edu), Department of Psychology, University of Houston, 126 Heyne Building, Houston, TX 77204-5022

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Yoshiko Umezawa Ph.D.

  2. University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Qian Lu Ph.D. M.D. & Jin You Ph.D.

  3. The University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Marjorie Kagawa-Singer Ph.D., M.A M.N., R.N. F.A.A.N, Barbara Leake Ph.D. & Rose C. Maly M.D, M.S.P.H.

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Houston, 126 Heyne Building, Houston, TX, 77204-5022, USA

    Qian Lu Ph.D. M.D.

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  1. Yoshiko Umezawa Ph.D.
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  2. Qian Lu Ph.D. M.D.
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  3. Jin You Ph.D.
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  4. Marjorie Kagawa-Singer Ph.D., M.A M.N., R.N. F.A.A.N
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Correspondence to Qian Lu Ph.D. M.D..

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Umezawa, Y., Lu, Q., You, J. et al. Belief in Divine Control, Coping, and Race/Ethnicity among Older Women with Breast Cancer. ann. behav. med. 44, 21–32 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-012-9358-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-012-9358-5

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