An exploratory study of social support: a cross-cultural comparison of Chinese-, Japanese-, and Anglo-American breast cancer patients.
This paper investigated the nature of social support for Asian- and Anglo-American women post breast cancer treatment. Forty-six Anglo- and Asian-American (13 Anglo-American, 18 Chinese-American and 15 Japanese-American women) women were assessed 6 months to 3 years post-treatment. Assessments consisted of a semi-structured interview plus standardized psychological tests. Three major hypotheses were developed and tested in the study. Results showed: (1) Anglo-American women indicated a greater need for social support than either of the two Asian-American groups in 66% of the categories; (2) no differences were found between the three ethnic groups in receipt of emotional or tangible social support; and (3) the network size and composition differed significantly in 83% of the categories between the Anglo group and at least one of the Asian groups. These differences were in size, mode, and perceived adequacy of social support. Implications for culturally-based clinical practice which emerge from these findings are discussed.
Wellisch
D
D
University of California, Los Angeles 90024, USA.
Kagawa-Singer
M
M
Reid
S L
SL
Lin
Y J
YJ
Nishikawa-Lee
S
S
Wellisch
M
M
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003710:Demography; D004739:England / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012944:Social Support; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology