ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the multiple domains of stressors that may affect the lives of caregivers. We will draw extensively from a research project, conducted in the United States of America but with Canadian ties, that applied a basic stress paradigm to a study of caregivers with dependent elderly parents suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. The first section deals with stress as a general topic, and considers why it is applicable to the caregiving context. The following sections review the literature on caregiving as a personally and socially significant issue and then present findings from our own research. The central theme is that a more comprehensive understanding of caregiver stress can be obtained when those stressors specific to the context of caregiving, as well as those derived from other areas of the caregiver's life, are considered.
