Ethnicity, stress, and cortisol function in Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women: A preliminary study of family dementia caregivers and noncaregivers.

Objective: This study examined differences in psychologic and physiological responses to caregiving stress in Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women dementia caregivers and noncaregivers. Dependent variables were perceived stress, depression, and salivary cortisol.

Method: Eighty-three women caregivers (20 Hispanic and 24 non-Hispanic white) and noncaregivers (19 Hispanic and 20 non-Hispanic white) completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and collected three saliva samples daily for 3 consecutive days.

Influence of neuroticism, ethnicity, familism, and social support on perceived burden in dementia caregivers: pilot test of the transactional stress and social support model.

In this study we assessed the new transactional stress and social support model, postulating the role of neuroticism, ethnicity, familism, and social support in perceived burden in dementia caregivers. We used a convenience sample (N=77) of African American and White dementia caregivers. Results substantiated interrelationships among social support variables, and the influence of perceived positive social support on burden.