Measuring Dispositional Cancer Worry in China and Belgium: A Cross-Cultural Validation

Abstract

Dispositional cancer worry (DCW) is the uncontrollable tendency to dwell on cancer independent of relevant stimuli (e.g., diagnosis of the disease). Past research has suggested that DCW has two underlying dimensions: severity and frequency. Available measures of DCW severity and frequency were translated and validated in two countries: China and Belgium. Participants (N = 623) completed translated scales, as well as measures of general dispositional worry, cancer fear, and perceived risk. In both locations, DCW measures were reliable (Cronbach's alphas ranged from .78 – .93) and demonstrated strong convergent, divergent, and concurrent validity. Severity and frequency factors loaded as expected in exploratory factor analysis. Future research should pursue longitudinal tests of DCW's predictive validity and explore DCW in theoretical models predicting the relationship between worry and cancer prevention and early detection behaviors.

KEYWORDS:

• cancer
• worry
• scale validation
• China
• Belgium

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge the following individuals for translation and data collection assistance: Kathleen Buellens, PhD; Kathleen Custers, PhD; Marijke Lemal, PhD; Xiguang Li, LLM; Jasmine Tan, PhD; Mariek Vanden Abeele, PhD; and Jan Van den Bulck, PhD. This work could not have been completed without their support.