Project Grant F31CA310514

DEVELOPING THEORY-INFORMED ACCULTURATION SCALES TO IMPROVE CANCER GENETIC SCREENING UPTAKE - PROJECT SUMMARY ALTHOUGH NATIONAL GUIDELINES ENDORSE CANCER GENETIC SCREENINGS (CGS) FOR BRCA-ASSOCIATED CANCERS, UPTAKE REMAINS LOW AMONG GEORGIA RESIDENTS, ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AREAS. RESEARCH HAS MAINLY FOCUSED ON INDIVIDUAL- LEVEL PREDICTORS, OVERLOOKING SYSTEMIC AND INTERPERSONAL FACTORS. GROUP-LEVEL FACTORS LIKE ACCULTURATION ARE THOUGHT TO INFLUENCE HEALTH BEHAVIORS, BUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO HEREDITARY CANCER SCREENING IS UNCLEAR DUE TO INCONSISTENT MEASUREMENT IN THE LITERATURE. CURRENT ACCULTURATION MEASURES ARE LIMITED BECAUSE THEY (1) LACK THEORETICAL GROUNDING AND RELY ON PROXY INDICATORS LIKE LANGUAGE PREFERENCE, (2) FAIL TO CAPTURE MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONSTRUCTS, AND (3) INCLUDE OUTDATED ITEMS THAT NO LONGER REFLECT CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL OR TECHNOLOGICAL CONTEXTS. THE SPECIFIC AIMS ARE TO: (AIM 1) CONDUCT A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW TO EXPLORE HOW ACCULTURATION HAS BEEN OPERATIONALIZED AND MEASURED IN RELATION TO PREVENTATIVE CANCER SCREENING UTILIZATION AND INTENTIONS AMONG LATINOS; (AIM 2) DEVELOP AND PILOT TEST AN ACCULTURATION SCALE IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH, INFORMED BY THE FINDINGS OF THE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND GUIDED BY ACCULTURATION THEORY; (AIM 3) ASSESS THE PREDICTIVE VALIDITY OF THE ACCULTURATION SCALE BY EXAMINING ITS ASSOCIATION WITH CGS AWARENESS AND SCREENING BEHAVIORS. THE FINDINGS FROM THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE NCI'S RESEARCH PRIORITIES BY GENERATING EVIDENCE-BASED MEASURES OF ACCULTURATION TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE MULTILEVEL FACTORS INFLUENCING EARLY CANCER DETECTION. MS. RAMIREZ LEON'S 3-YEAR TRAINING PLAN INCLUDES: (1) DEEPEN THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL UNDERSTANDING OF ACCULTURATION AND STRUCTURAL FACTORS IMPACTING LATINO'S/HISPANIC'S CANCER SCREENING BEHAVIORS, (2) DEVELOP HER SKILLS IN TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, WITH A FOCUS ON COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY RELEVANT ADAPTATION DESIGN, AND (3) ADVANCE HER COMPETENCIES IN PSYCHOMETRIC TECHNIQUES AND STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING. THE FELLOWSHIP WILL FACILITATE HER PROGRESS TOWARDS HER LONG-TERM CAREER GOAL TO BECOME AN NIH-CALIBER ACADEMIC RESEARCHER WITH RESEARCH PROGRAM FOCUSING ON POPULATION-BASED HEREDITARY CANCER SCREENING. EMORY UNIVERSITY IS AN EXCELLENT ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PROPOSED RESEARCH AND TRAINING. THE PROPOSED TEAM OF MENTORS, DRS. YUE GUAN (PRIMARY SPONSOR), ANA F. ABRAIDO-LANZA, ALEXANDER M. SCHOEMANN, AND REGINE HAARDORFER (CO-SPONSORS) WILL LEND THEIR COLLECTIVE EXPERTISE TO MENTOR MS. RAMIREZ LEON IN HEREDITARY CANCER PREVENTION AND CONTROL, HEALTH COMMUNICATION, ACCULTURATION, SURVEY DESIGN, PSYCHOMETRIC MEASUREMENT, THEORY DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING, AND RESEARCH TRANSLATION AND DISSEMINATION. MS. RAMIREZ LEON WILL NOT ONLY LEVERAGE HER CONNECTIONS TO LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, BUT ALSO TO RESOURCES AT EMORY UNIVERSITY, INCLUDING WINSHIP CANCER INSTITUTE (NCI-DESIGNATED COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER), EMORY PRECISION PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH PROGRAM, AND EMORY PREVENTION RESEARCH CENTER. THE CANDIDATE, THE MENTORSHIP TEAM, AND THE ENVIRONMENT ARE UNIQUELY SUITED TO EFFECTIVELY ACHIEVE THE PROPOSED RESEARCH AND TRAINING AIMS.