Belief in divine control, coping, and race/ethnicity among older women with breast cancer

Abstract

Background Belief in divine control is often assumed to be fatalistic. However, the assumption has rarely been investigated in racial/ethnic minorities. Objectives This study aims to examine the association between belief in divine control and coping and how the association was moderated by ethnicity/acculturation in a multi-ethnic sample of breast cancer patients. Methods Latina, African American, and non-Hispanic White older women with newly diagnosed breast cancer (N0257) from a population-based survey completed the scale of Belief in Divine Control and the Brief COPE. Results Belief in divine control was positively related to approach coping (i.e., positive reframing, active coping, and planning) in all ethnic groups. Belief in divine control was positively related to acceptance and negatively related to avoidance coping (i.e., denial and behavioral disengagement) among low-Acculturated Latinas. Conclusions Negative presumptions about fatalistic implications of belief in divine control should be critically reappraised, especially when such skepticism is applied to racial/ethnic minority patients. © The Society of Behavioral Medicine 2012.