TOWARD A CROSS-CULTURAL-PERSPECTIVE OF FAMILY CAREGIVING

This article is part of a symposium that explores the issues involved in developing cross-culturally equivalent conceptualizations and measu res for studying family caregiving. The examples used are from the ins trument development phase of an ongoing program of research designed t o generate and test a theory that explains the quality of family careg iving for frail elders at home. This article provides the background f or the symposium by introducing the symposium's unifying theme: cross- cultural equivalence. The process described is based on the experience s of the cross-cultural research team and Berry's model for developing cross-culturally equivalent research.