The Norwegian version of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale: factor structure and psychometric properties.
OBJECTIVE
The object of the study was to examine the factor structure and the psychometric properties of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (Mini-MAC) among a large sample of Norwegian breast cancer patients.


METHODS
A total of 402 patients with breast cancer completed the Mini-MAC.


RESULTS
Principal component analysis with varimax rotion confirmed four factors. Three had psychometric properties to the original Mini-MAC Helpless-Hopeless (HH), Anxious Preoccupation (AP) and Cognitive Avoidance (CA) subscales. The fourth, named Positive Attitude (PA) combined the Fighting Spirit (FS) and the Fatalism subscales of the original Mini-MAC. Construct validities were assessed by examining the interscale correlations as well as the correlations between the Mini-MAC subscales and the HADS subscales scores. Internal consistency of the five subscales was satisfactory for the original (HH, AP, CA, FA, coefficients=0.60-0.83), except for the FS subscale (coefficient=21).


CONCLUSIONS
In view of the low internal reliability for the Norwegian Mini-MAC FS subscale coefficient; it appears to be more appropriate to use the Norwegian Mini-MAC as a four-factor model. If researcher or clinicians in Norway use the five-factor model, they should take great care when interpreting the fighting spirit subscale.
University of Oslo/Researcher, Unit of Breast and Endocrinesurgery, Ullevål University Hospital, 0407 Oslo, Norway. inger.schou@uus.no
Inger Schou
IS
Bredal
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012917:Social Adjustment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires