Culver, J. L., Arena, P. L., Wimberly, S. R., Antoni, M. H., & Carver, C. S. (2004). Coping among African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white women recently treated for early stage breast cancer. Psychology and Health, 19, 157-166.
Relatively little is known about how members of minority groups cope
with experiences such as diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer—in
particular, whether coping patterns among minorities differ from that
of the majority. This study adds to the existing knowledge base using a
cross-sectional sample of middle-class African American (n = 26),
Hispanic (n = 59), and non-Hispanic White women (n = 151) who had been
treated for early stage breast cancer in the past year. We tested for
differences in coping responses per se and also for the possibility
that coping would relate to distress differently in different groups.
There were only two differences in coping (controlling for medical
variables, education, and distress): Compared to non-Hispanic White
women, the other two groups both reported using humor-based coping
less, and religion-based coping more. There was one difference in how
coping related to distress: Venting related more strongly to elevated
distress among Hispanic than among non-Hispanics. Discussion centers on
a growing consensus on ethnic differences in religious and humor-based
coping, and on the relative absence of other coping differences among
these populations.
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