Table 2. Causal attributions for breast cancer – by demographics.

(% agreed or strongly agreed with cause)

Cause	Age		Education		Ethnicity			Family History
	<50	50+	<Bachelors	Bachelors+	Black	White	Hispanic	No	Yes
Stress or worry	25.7	29.6	24.6	32.9	12.6	24.0	42.8	26.1	39.1
Hereditary – it runs in my family	89.4a	78.6a	82.6	87.7	62.5	88.0	75.0	84.6	82.6
A germ or virus	15.1b	25.5b	23.2	13.7	50.0c	15.8c	21.5	19.2	26.1
Diet or eating habits	46.9	45.9	45.7	48.0	37.6	45.5	46.4	46.3	47.8
Chance or bad luck	36.3	27.5	31.2	34.3	18.8	35.5	21.4	31.9	34.8
Poor medical care in my past	25.7	19.4	26.0	16.4	37.6	20.3	21.4	24.5	8.7
Pollution in the environment	61.9	52.6	55.8	61.1	62.6	55.4	64.3	58.8	47.8
My own behavior	40.7	27.5	36.2	31.5	25.0	32.2	42.8	34.5	34.8
My emotional state (e.g., feeling down, lonely, anxious, empty)	23.1	20.4	19.5	26.0	31.3	17.7	32.1	19.7	39.1
Aging	56.7	39.8	44.2	57.5	31.3	47.5	57.1	47.9	56.5
Alcohol	30.1	29.6	30.5	28.8	37.6	27.2	35.7	30.3	26.0
Smoking	57.6	59.2	56.6	61.6	62.6	57.6	57.1	56.4	73.9
Accident or injury	12.4b	25.5b	21.7	12.3	12.6	19.0	14.3	18.1	21.7
My personality	5.3b	9.2b	6.8	8.2	12.5	6.3	7.1	6.9	8.7
Changes in my immune system	61.1	60.2	58.7	64.4	56.3	58.9	71.4	63.3	39.1
My mental attitude (e.g., thinking about life negatively)	18.6	19.4	20.2	16.4	25.1	14.6	39.3	18.1	26.0
Overwork	16.0	13.2	15.2	13.7	25.0	10.2	28.6	14.9	13.0
Family problems or worries	17.9	18.3	17.5	19.2	25.0	13.9	29.6	17.1	26.1
Lack of exercise	38.4	32.6	30.6	45.2	18.8	35.7	35.7	35.8	34.7
Prior surgery (on breast/on colon)	26.6	20.4	26.1	19.2	37.5	19.6	32.2	25.6	8.6

^a= p≤.01

^b= p≤.005

^c= p≤.001