Table 3. Item endorsement labels and scale reliabilities.
| Factor name | University Students |
Community Men |
Urban Primary Care |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive Causation | |||
| CC1 - If I think too hard about the possibility of getting cancer, I could get it. | 12.9 | 6.0 | 19.1 |
| CC2 - If I don’t believe I will get cancer, I won’t. | 9.6 | 9.6 | 22.0 |
| CC3 - Negative thoughts about getting cancer might make me get it. | 8.5 | 8.2 | 17.9 |
| CC4 - Considering that I could get cancer might bring on bad luck. | 8.1 | 3.3 | 21.5 |
| CC5 - Too much thought about cancer risk could encourage the disease. | 9.9 | 10.4 | 23.0 |
| CC6 - Being hopeful about my cancer risk might protect me from getting it. | 18.3 | 19.8 | 45.5 |
| CC7 - Thinking that I am likely to get cancer may give me cancer. | 7.8 | 5.5 | 13.9 |
| CC8 - In general, if a person thinks about the possibility of getting cancer, they are more likely to get it.† | 10.6 | - | 16.0 |
| CC9 - In general, people who don’t think too much about getting cancer tend to avoid it.† | 10.6 | - | 35.3 |
| CC10 - For those who already have cancer, limiting their thoughts about cancer risk helps them get better. † | 34.6 | - | 48.7 |
| Scale Internal Consistency Reliability | α = 0.92 | α = 0.92 | α = 0.90 |
| Scale Mean (Standard Deviation) | 0.57 (0.51) | 0.47 (0.49) | 0.83 (0.67) |
| Scale Median (25th - 75th percentile) | 0.5 (0.1 - 0.9) | 0.29 (0.0 - 0.84) | 0.65 (0.3 - 1.35) |
| Negative affect in risk | |||
| NA1 -1 get frightened when I think I could get cancer. | 79.4 | 63.5 | 70.2 |
| NA2 - Thinking about getting cancer makes me afraid. | 76.2 | 45.1 | 71.9 |
| NA3 -1 get a bad feeling just thinking about the possibility of getting cancer. | 70.9 | 50.6 | 68.9 |
| NA4 -Thinking about my chances of getting cancer makes me uncomfortable. | 70.4 | 56.0 | 67.8 |
| NA5 -1 dread getting cancer. | 81.0 | 62.2 | 71.7 |
| NA6 -1 can’t think about getting cancer without feeling afraid. | 60.4 | 43.9 | 60.9 |
| Scale Internal Consistency Reliability | α = 0.92 | α = 0.89 | α = 0.91 |
| Scale Mean (Standard Deviation) | 1.93 (0.7) | 1.54 (0.61) | 1.92 (0.84) |
| Scale Median (25th - 75th percentile) | 2.0 (1.5 - 2.5) | 1.5 (1.17 - 2.0) | 2.0 (1.5 - 2.5) |
| Unpredictability of cancer | |||
| UC1 - Anybody can get cancer, no matter what they do. | 86.7 | 85.4 | 88.0 |
| UC2 - Cancer can strike anyone at any time. | 90.8 | 93.2 | 92.7 |
| UC3 - You never know who is going to get cancer. | 91.9 | 91.2 | 92.7 |
| UC4 - Cancer is a random thing. | 50.6 | 48.1 | 71.4 |
| UC5 - There is no way to know whether I might get cancer in the future. | 68.8 | 70.7 | 70.0 |
| Scale Internal Consistency Reliability | α = 0.76 | α = 0.78 | α = 0.78 |
| Scale Mean (Standard Deviation) | 2.1 (0.52) | 2.07 (0.52) | 2.32 (0.6) |
| Scale Median (25th - 75th percentile) | 2.0 (1.8 - 2.6) | 2.0 (1.8 - 2.4) | 2.4 (1.8 - 2.8) |
| Preventability | |||
| PR1 - If I follow my doctor’s advice, I can greatly reduce my chances of getting cancer. | 84.9 | 82.9 | 87.3 |
| PR2 - There isn’t much anyone can do to control whether they get cancer or not. ‡ | 48.6 | 27.6 | 50.8 |
| PR3 - Those who lead healthy lives get cancer just as often as those who don’t have healthy lifestyles. † | 55.6 | 29.1 | 66.4 |
| PR4 - 1 don’t believe there is much I can do to avoid getting cancer. ‡ | 37.8 | 20.6 | 41.2 |
| PR5 - There are a lot of things I can do to reduce my cancer risk. | 83.4 | 90.6 | 90.8 |
| Scale Internal Consistency Reliability | α = 0.73 | α = 0.71 | α = 0.54 |
| Scale Mean (Standard Deviation) | 1.76 (0.53) | 1.99 (0.5) | 1.79 (0.62) |
| Scale Median (25th - 75th percentile) | 1.8 (1.4 - 2.2) | 2.0 (1.8 - 2.4) | 1.8 (1.2 - 2.3) |
| Defensive pessimism | |||
| DP2 - Believing that I won’t get cancer could be risky. | 37.7 | 43.1 | 64.7 |
| DP3 - 1 don’t want to be over-confident that I can avoid cancer. | 77.7 | 78.9 | 70.0 |
| Scale Internal Consistency Reliability | α = 0.47 | α = 0.42 | α = 0.39 |
| Scale Mean (Standard Deviation) | 1.53 (0.67) | 1.60 (0.66) | 1.80 (0.89) |
| Scale Median (25th - 75th percentile) | 1.5 (1.0 - 2.0) | 1.5 (1.0 - 2.0) | 2.0 (1.25 - 2.5) |
†
Note. Not included in the Community Men sample.
‡
These items were reversed to calculate Preventability subscale scores and alpha coefficient reliabilities.