| Research has shown that self-efficacy is positively related to an overall quality of life in cancer patients. The Cancer Behavior Inventory (CBI) is a cancer-specific instrument that measures self-efficacy and may be administered in either the 43-item long form (CBI-L) or the 12-item brief form (CBI-B). Evidence of reliability and validity, and the factor structure has been reported for the CBI-L but not for the CBI-B. In this study, 138 cancer patients were surveyed to investigate the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the CBI-B using both Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Maximum Likelihood Factor Analysis (ML). Gender differences and cancer support group participation in terms of self-efficacy were also addressed in this study. A 4-factor structure consisting of the factors (1) Maintaining Your Lifestyle, (2) Seeking Support and Information, (3) Coping with Treatment-Related Side Effects, and (4) Affective Regulation was obtained. This structure was only moderately similar to that of the CBI-L as reported by Merluzzi and Sanchez (1997). In addition, female cancer patients were found to have a higher level of self-efficacy than males, however, no difference in self-efficacy was found between those participants who were attending a cancer support group and those who were not attending a cancer support group. |
