Psychological Distress, Perceived Discrimination, and Self-efficacy in Asian American Women with a History of Breast Cancer

Résumé du livre

Breast cancer treatment has greatly improved over the past few decades, yet little is known about the risk factors and optimal treatment options for ethnic minorities, and specifically Asian Americans (Ashing-Giwa, 2000). Measures of psychological distress, racial discrimination, and coping styles have been influential in describing the course of cancer treatment for ethnic minority breast cancer patients in the hopes to better-inform treatment (Brondolo et al., 2011; Mertz et al., 2011; Mohajjel, Sanaat, Hassankhani, & Kochaki, 2013; Sheppard et al., 2014). Although these measures have been found to be valid for a variety of samples, there is still a need to test these measures on Asian American breast cancer survivors. Given the paucity of research on the use of these measures with this population, the focus of this dissertation was to conduct a pilot study to test the appropriateness of selected measures of psychological distress (The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), trauma (PTSD Check List for DSM-5), perceived discrimination (the Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire:, Civilian Version, Lifetime Exposure Scale), and self-efficacy (Cancer Behavior Inventory, Brief Version) for Asian American breast cancer survivors, as a springboard for continued exploration in this area of much-needed research. Preliminary findings revealed that the HADS, PEDQ-CV, and CBI-B measures are potentially appropriate for use with this population, while the PCL-5 may not be the most sensitive. Implications of these findings and recommendations of future directions are discussed.