Where Culture Meets Genetics: Exploring Latinas' Causal Attributions of Breast and Colon Cancer and Mental Models of Disease Inheritance

Research to understand the sources of health disparities has acknowledged that in addition to biomedical risk factors, culture plays an important role in differential health outcomes. Consequently, understanding cultural differences that may influence health behavior is key in working towards reducing these disparities. Causal attributions are a key component of individuals illness perceptions and thus impact health behaviors, which may present as health disparities at a population level. While research has explored non-Hispanic White women s causal attributions of breast cancer, less is known about Latina s beliefs about the causes of breast cancer, and little is known about causal attributions of colon cancer in any population. Understanding Latina s causal attributions of breast and colon cancer may provide insight into the determinants of cancer disparities in this population. Because a subset of both breast and colon cancers result from single gene mutations, which confer an increased risk of developing such cancers, understanding causal attributions in Latina populations is relevant to the field of genetics. This is especially true since Latinas have historically underutilized cancer genetic risk assessment counseling and testing services. As these services become a standard part of general healthcare provision, it will become increasingly important to understand ways in which different cultural groups interact with genetic information. One way this can be done is through investigating culturally informed mental models of disease risk and inheritance. This study seeks to describe causal attributions of breast and colon cancer and to explore mental models of disease inheritance among Latina immigrants . A qualitative exploratory design including interviews comprised of free-listing, ranking, and open-ended questions will be used. Participants will be recruited through the NIH Clinical Research Volunteer Program as well as using other resources within the Office of Participant Recruitment and from among individuals enrolled on other NIH Clinical Center protocols. First, we will describe Latina s causal attributions for these cancers. Next, we will use cultural consensus theory (CCT) to identify and describe common cultural models of causes of these cancers. Finally, we will explore Latina s mental models of disease inheritance using both free-listing and open-ended questions.