Comparison between African-American and white women in their beliefs aboutbreast cancer and their health locus of control

The purpose of this study was to examine the health beliefs of African-Amer ican and white women about breast cancer and locus of control, using the he alth belief model and the health locus of control construct. The Health Scr eening Questionnaire, developed by Sugarek, Deyo, and Holmes, was used to c ollect self-report data about health beliefs related to breast cancer and h ealth locus of control. Participants included 197 white and 152 African-Ame rican women, between the ages of 19 and 93, recruited from various settings in central Florida. Significant differences were found between the two gro ups on all of the health beliefs about cancer items. The African-American w omen were significantly more likely to believe in chance, or to depend on p owerful others for their health. Perceived susceptibility to cancer, doubts about the value of early diagnosis, and beliefs about the seriousness of b reast cancer all were significantly associated with powerful other scores a mong African-American women. There was no relation between health beliefs a nd years of education for African-American women, but for white women, thos e with the least education were more likely to believe that death was inevi table with a cancer diagnosis. These results add to the information needed for the development of effective programs aimed at increasing breast cancer screening among African-American women.