Statement of the Problem: Understanding how caregivers manage medication administration and how formal and informal information networks educate, support, and provide information to caregivers has significant implications for health status (Rorie & Barger, 1996; Ranelli & Aversa, 1994; Nat'l Alliance for Caregiving/AARP, 1997). Research suggests that characteristics of the caregiver such as race and ethnicity, can influence caregiver burden and, in turn, impact treatment outcomes (Herrell & Roth 1995; Anderson-Dilworth, et al., 2002). One factor associated with caregiver burden is related to difficulties in administering prescribed medications. Research on this variable has explored the daily irritations that can build up over time and contribute to caregiver stress and negative outcomes for the patient, including approaches to measuring such difficulties or “hassles" as experienced by adult family caregivers engaged in long-term care for dependent elderly relatives, (Lazarus & Folkman, 1964; Kinney & Stephens, 1989; Travis et al., 2000; Thornton & Travis, 2003) major limitation of this literature is the under-representation of African American caregivers in the samples used for validation, and the absence of subjects in the sample used who are neither in adult day programs or receiving case management services. These minority caregivers who live in community settings and do not have formal support resources may exhibit differential exposure to stress. Currently, we know little about this group because they are grossly underrepresented in the research literature (Skinner, 1995).

Specific Aims:

1. Develop a valid and reliable measure of this construct for use with African American populations;
2. To ascertain whether African American community caregivers not associated with adult day programs and case management services exhibit higher rates of "medication administration hassles" than those with more formal care giving resources;
3. Compare racial differences in medication stress in a community based sample.