Predictors of Cancer-risk Behaviors among Hispanic Americans

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Hispanic Americans (HAs) are the fastest growing demographic group in the United States (US). Cancer health disparities exist among HAs, whereby HAs are more likely to have higher incidence and mortality statistics for certain types of cancer in comparison to non-Hispanic Whites (NCI, 2008). The goal of this project is to further understanding of the relationships among acculturation, the environment, and cancer-risk behaviors (i.e., alcohol, tobacco, and fruit/vegetable consumption) in HAs. To accomplish this, the project will examine how 1) person-level acculturation variables relate to cancer-risk behaviors, 2) neighborhood variables relate to cancer- risk behaviors, after accounting for person-level acculturation variables, and 3) neighborhood variables impact the relationship between person-level acculturation variables and cancer-risk behaviors in this population. Acculturation is critical to the understanding of health and health behaviors among HAs. Although there is a positive relationship between socio-economic status and health, and HAs are disproportionately represented among the poor, they tend to have better health compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Researchers hypothesize that HAs have more favorable health, despite generally low socio-economic status, because of positive health behaviors associated with their culture and norms. Furthermore, as HAs become more acculturated to the US, and adopt customs and behaviors of US culture, they tend to engage in more adverse health behaviors. Research has indicated that general trends exist, whereby more acculturation to the US is associated with more adverse health behaviors. However, dependent on the subject area and measures used, findings are often inconsistent. Studies have called for further exploration of the relationship between acculturation and health behaviors using latent methodologies and multidimensional measures of acculturation. Additionally, a critical aspect missing from research relating acculturation to health is an understanding of the impact of the environment. It is well known that the environment in which one lives influences health and health behavior. However, few studies have jointly examined how acculturation and the environment relate to health behaviors. For the proposed study, multi-level modeling will be used to explore correlates of cancer-risk behaviors among 436 HA adults from a metropolitan border city. A multi-level data structure contains observations at one level of analysis that are nested within observations of another level of analysis. Person-level acculturation variables will be included at the lowest leve of the model, and will be hierarchically nested within participants' neighborhood data. Neighborhoods will be defined using US census tracts. Examining how level of acculturation and the environment independently and interactively affect cancer-risk behaviors may enhance the development of effective interventions and policies to reduce cancer disparities among HAs.