Stress and service use among minority caregivers to elders with dementia

Research indicates that minority caregivers use fewer outside social and me dical services than white, European-American caregivers. Qualitative resear ch has shown non-caregiving stressors stemming from family and community en vironments as affecting burden and service use among minority caregivers. Y et few studies of caregiver service use include multiple groups of minority caregivers, or quantitatively evaluate the influence of non-caregiving str ess. Using Pearlin, Mullan, Semple and Skaff's (1990) model of caregiver st ress, we examined the relationship of ethnicity, non-caregiving stressors, and other stress-associated variables to service use by African-American, C hinese, and Latino caregivers. A group of white, European-American caregive rs served as a reference group. Results show ethnicity, non-caregiving stre ss, and the dementia-affected elder's impairment level to predict unmet ser vice need. The results also point to the usefulness of a new measure of non -caregiving stress in evaluating service use among minority caregivers.