Stress and Caring for Elderly Relatives: Interpretations and Coping Strategies in an American Indian and White Sample1

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Abstract
This study explores how families who care for their elderly relatives view their caretaking situations. The stressful event literature suggests that a variety of dimensions may influence a person's subsequent coping behavior. In semi-structured interviews with 10 Indian and 10 white caretakers of ill elderly relatives in the rural northwest, 11 dimensions were used to define caretaking, with a focus on control. The results imply that cultural background influences the meaning of caretaking and that both variables affect the coping strategies selected.