Health:

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Register here to gain access to SAGE's 500+ Journals Online

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by LeBlanc, A. J.
Right arrow Articles by Wardlaw, L. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by LeBlanc, A. J.
Right arrow Articles by Wardlaw, L. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Health:, Vol. 3, No. 4, 421-449 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/136345939900300405

Health-Related Worry among Informal Aids Caregivers

Allen J. LeBlanc

University of California, San Francisco, USAleblanc{at}itsa.ucsf.edu

Linda A. Wardlaw

University of California, San Francisco, USA

We examine health-related worries among a sample of informal AIDS caregivers (N = 640), people caring for a friend, loved one or kin outside the formal health care system. Two dimensions of worry are assessed: (1) a generalized sense of vulnerability to sickness; and (2) perceptions of care provision as risky in itself. Many informal AIDS caregivers, whether they are HIV seronegative or seropositive, harbor considerable worry about their own vulnerability to sickness, yet relatively few appear to worry about caregiving as a risky activity per se. We document important variation in the levels and correlates of worry across caregivers as they differ by serostatus and health. We also uncover variation in worry rooted in sociodemographic background and the differential experience of care-related stress. Prevailing theories of risk perception help to illustrate why informal caregivers might differ from other populations in their view of AIDS. Vignettes and quotes culled from marginal comments, which were systematically recorded by trained interviewers during implementation of the survey, supplement the quantitative data.

Key Words: AIDS caregiving • risk • stress • worry


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?