This was a comparison study which examined health beliefs and locus of control among African American and Caucasian women concerning breast cancer in North Florida. The instrument used to collect data was the Health Screening Questionnaire developed by Sugarek, Deyo and Holmes. Part I of the questionnaire was a health belief questionnaire and part II a health locus of control questionnaire. In addition, there was a demographic questionnaire used to collected information on the following: age, race, education status, employment and type, household income range, previous history of breast cancer and location of survey completion. Women recruited included 38 African-American and 53 Caucasian women from several health care and public settings. Significant differences were found demographically in the area of income and education levels between the two groups. African-American women were found to have significantly lower income levels and moderately significant lower levels of education. Significance differences in health belief were found in the Health Belief Model construct of 'Perceived Susceptibility'. Caucasian women were found to have higher levels of perceived susceptibility to breast cancer than African American women. No significant differences were found in the analyses of locus of control between the groups. The majority of African-American and Caucasian women in the study had an internal locus of control. These results add to a better understanding of behavioral and sociocultural factors that may influence breast cancer detection, prevention and possible causes of health care disparities among African-American and Caucasian women. / A Thesis submitted to the College of Nursing in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing. / Summer Semester, 2008. / April 22, 2008. / North Florida, Health Beliefs, Locus of Control, Caucasian Women, African-American Women, Breast Cancer, Socioeconomic Factors, Percieved Susceptiblity / Includes bibliographical references. / Susan Porterfield, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Mary Beth Zeni, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Laurie Grubbs, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_182511 |
| Contributors | Fuller, Marilyn Elizabeth (authoraut), Porterfield, Susan (professor co-directing thesis), Zeni, Mary Beth (professor co-directing thesis), Grubbs, Laurie (committee member), College of Nursing (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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