title: The Cancer and Deity Questionnaire: a new religion and cancer measure.
abstract: We evaluated a new measure, the Cancer and Deity Questionnaire (CDQ), which assesses perceived relations with God after a cancer diagnosis. Based on object relations theory, the 12-item CDQ assesses benevolent and abandoning God representations. Sixty-one older participants with recent cancer diagnoses completed the questionnaire at baseline, and 52 of these participants completed the same questionnaire at follow-up. Internal consistency was excellent for the Benevolence scale (alpha = .97) and good for the Abandonment scale (alpha = .80). Moderate correlations with the Spiritual Well-Being Scale support divergent validity. Correlations between CDQ scales and the Styles of Religious Coping scales support convergent validity. The CDQ is brief, easily scored, practical for psycho-oncology research, and adaptable for use with other illnesses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA. ebowman@iupui.edu
authors.forename: Elizabeth S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Beitman
authors.forename: Oxana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Palesh
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koopman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012067:Religion; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires