title: The relationship between religiosity and cancer screening among Vietnamese women in the United States: the moderating role of acculturation.
abstract: In this study the authors explore the relationship between intrinsic, personal extrinsic, and social extrinsic religiosity to breast and cervical cancer screening efficacy and behavior among Vietnamese women recruited from a Catholic Vietnamese church and a Buddhist temple in the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area. The potential moderating effect of acculturation was of interest. Participants were 111 Vietnamese women who participated in a larger cancer screening intervention. Data collection began early fall of 2010 and ended in late spring 2011. High levels of acculturation were associated with increased self-efficacy for Pap tests and having received a Pap test. Acculturation moderated the relationships between religiosity and self-efficacy for breast and cervical cancer screening. Higher levels of social extrinsic religiosity were associated with increased efficacy for cancer screening among less acculturated women. Acculturation also moderated the relationship between religiosity and breast cancer screening. Specifically, for less acculturated women, increasing levels of intrinsic religiosity and personal extrinsic religiosity were associated with lower likelihood probability of Pap testing. For highly acculturated women, increasing levels of intrinsic religiosity and personal extrinsic religiosity were associated with higher likelihood probability of Pap testing. The authors' findings demonstrate the need for further investigation of the dynamic interplay of multi-level factors that influence cancer screening.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, The National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Anh B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Kristina B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Hood
authors.forename: Faye Z
authors.initials: FZ
authors.lastname: Belgrave
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044466:Asian People; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology; D014768:Virginia / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult