Can culture help explain the physical health effects of caregiving over time among African American caregivers?
OBJECTIVE
The purposes of this study were to longitudinally examine the health outcomes of 107 African American caregivers who provided care to their elderly dependent family members and to determine the role of culture in predicting health outcomes.


METHODS
With use of the stress and coping model of Pearlin and colleagues (1990) as a guide, the direct effects of background characteristics and stressors and the direct and mediating effects of resources (including culture) on two caregiver health outcomes (i.e., psychosocial health and physical functioning) were analyzed with hierarchical multiple regression analyses.


RESULTS
Similar to other studies, we found that combinations of caregiver background characteristics, stressors, and resources at wave 1 had direct effects on African American caregivers' health outcomes at wave 3. Unlike previous studies, where culture was not measured, we found that cultural beliefs and values did help to explain health outcomes for African American caregivers. Specifically, culture justifications for caregiving, baseline psychosocial health, and caregiving mastery predicted wave 3 psychosocial health. Caregiver education, number of morbidities, and physical functioning at wave 1 were associated with physical functioning at wave 3.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings from this study have implications for future studies, particularly in regard to cultural beliefs and values among African American caregivers.
Dilworth-Anderson
Peggye
P
Department of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-7411, USA. pdilworth@mail.schsr.unc.edu
Goodwin
Paula Y
PY
Williams
Sharon Wallace
SW
D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012945:Social Values; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States