This article reports the development of a measure of self-efficacy for coping with cancer. Items culled from a variety of sources were chosen for inclusion in the Cancer Behavior Inventory (CBI) based on the psychometric properties of the items and the fit of the items in a factor structure. Factor analysis on a group of 502 persons with cancer yielded 6 factors: (a) Maintenance of Activity and Independence (alpha = .89), (b) Coping With Treatment-Related Side Effects (alpha = .88), (c) Accepting Cancer/Maintaining Positive Attitude (alpha = .87), (d) Seeking and Understanding Medical Information (alpha = .88), (e) Affective Regulation (alpha = .75), and (f) Seeking Support (alpha = .77). Cronbach's alpha for the entire measure was .96, and correlations with other measures supported its validity. The CBI may be useful for research and clinical practice.

The Cancer Behavior Inventory (CBI), a measure of self-efficacy for coping with cancer, was revised by adding a new stress management scale and reducing its length from 43 to 33 items. The 33-item CBI was administered to 280 cancer patients. A principal factors analysis with varimax rotation yielded the hypothesized seven factors (alphas in parentheses): (1) maintenance of activity and independence (alpha=0.86), (2) seeking and understanding medical information (alpha=0.88), (3) stress management (alpha=0.86), (4) coping with treatment-related side-effects (alpha=0.82), (5) accepting cancer/maintaining positive attitude (alpha=0.86), (6) affective regulation (alpha=0.81), and (7) seeking support (alpha=0.80). The alpha for the entire CBI was 0.94, the test-retest (1 week) reliability coefficient was 0.74, and correlations with measures of quality of life and coping supported its validity. The CBI may be useful to researchers and clinicians and can be integrated into a self-regulation model of coping.

Based on self-regulation and self-efficacy theories, the Cancer Behavior Inventory (CBI; Merluzzi & Martinez Sanchez, 1997;Merluzzi et al, 2001;Heitzmann et al, 2011) was developed as a measure of self-efficacy strategies for coping with cancer. In the latest revision, CBI-V3.0, a number of psychometric and empirical advances were made: (1) reading level was reduced to 6 th grade level; 2) individual interviews and focus groups were used to revise items; 3) a new spiritual coping subscale was added; 4) data were collected from four samples (total N=1405) to conduct an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with targeted rotation, two confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), and differential item functioning (DIF); 5) item trimming was used to reduce the total number to 27; 6) internal consistency and test-retest reliability were computed; and 7) extensive validity testing was conducted. The results, which build upon the strengths of prior versions, confirm a structurally and psychometrically sound and unbiased measure of self-efficacy strategies for coping with cancer with a reduced number of items for ease of administration. The factors include: Maintaining Activity and Independence, Seeking and Understanding Medical Information, Emotion Regulation, Coping with Treatment Related Side Effects, Accepting Cancer/ Maintaining a Positive Attitude, Seeking Social Support, and Using Spiritual Coping. Internal consistency (α =. 946), test-retest reliability (r=.890; four months) and validity coefficients with a variety of relevant measures indicated strong psychometric properties. The new 27-item CBI-V3.0 has both research utility and clinical utility as a screening and treatment planning measure of self-efficacy strategies for coping with cancer.

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