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An exploratory study of social support: a cross‐cultural comparison of Chinese‐, Japanese‐, and Anglo‐American breast cancer patients
Author(s) -
Wellisch David,
KagawaSinger Marjorie,
Reid Suzanne Louise,
Lin YiJen,
NishikawaLee Susan,
Wellisch Michele
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
psycho‐oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.41
H-Index - 137
eISSN - 1099-1611
pISSN - 1057-9249
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1611(199905/06)8:3<207::aid-pon357>3.0.co;2-b
Subject(s) - asian americans , receipt , chinese americans , ethnic group , social support , breast cancer , psychology , exploratory research , clinical psychology , gerontology , demography , medicine , cancer , social psychology , sociology , anthropology , world wide web , computer science
This paper investigated the nature of social support for Asian‐ and Anglo‐American women post breast cancer treatment. Forty‐six Anglo‐ and Asian‐American (13 Anglo‐American, 18 Chinese‐American and 15 Japanese‐American women) women were assessed 6 months to 3 years post‐treatment. Assessments consisted of a semi‐structured interview plus standardized psychological tests. Three major hypotheses were developed and tested in the study. Results showed: (1) Anglo‐American women indicated a greater need for social support than either of the two Asian‐American groups in 66% of the categories; (2) no differences were found between the three ethnic groups in receipt of emotional or tangible social support; and (3) the network size and composition differed significantly in 83% of the categories between the Anglo group and at least one of the Asian groups. These differences were in size, mode, and perceived adequacy of social support. Implications for culturally‐based clinical practice which emerge from these findings are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.