AAs’ worry about “bad news” was a barrier to receiving results. The observation underscores how the pervasive and daily stress of being an AA [Clark et al., 1999], and beliefs about somatization of perceived health risks [De Gucht and Fischler, 2002] may be substantial barriers, indeed rational reasons not to receive genetic results. Further empirical studies are needed to better understand and address population-specific psychosocial impacts of receiving WGS results among AAs and other diverse populations. When coupled with the observed present-focused orientation toward health and illness, these health beliefs may impede even considering the possibility of receiving results, as we found among some of our AA participants. At the same time, this cautious perspective – sometimes characterized by our AA participants as “old school” and rooted in the “deep south” – was countered by the hope that engaging in WGS and receiving results would yield individual, family, community and societal benefits. Among those benefits was a sense of reassurance that might come from receiving “good results.” Currently such results are not being considered for return by most, but participants’
