As AIDS becomes a chronic disease the relationship of patients to their families and caregivers becomes more important. Minority group families and caregivers may be disproportionately affected. Mexican Americans make up two-thirds of Hispanics and their families have been reported to have unique supportive characteristics. Greater understanding of these may have important implications for AIDs treatment and prevention. The proposed research is a cross-sectional study of HIV seropositive and serogenative Mexican American and non-Hispanic white gay men and their families of origin or choice. The study is designed to: 1) analyze ethnic differences in stressors at different stages of illness, family support networks and how family support moderates the potentially negative effects of stressors on quality of life; 2) assess ethnic differences in stressors experienced by families in their role as caregivers or potential caregivers, the supports they give to and receive and their quality of life, as function of the amount of support given and received. The sample will consist of 150 seropositive gay men stratified by three stages of disease and ethnicity and a control group of 50 seronegative gay men stratified by ethnicity. Three hundred family members of the seropositive group (one family of origin, one family of choice member for each subject) and one hundred similar family members of the seronegative group will comprise the total sample of 600 subjects. Major variables will include background characteristics, illness/caregiving stressors, coping resources, and quality of life indicators. The general analytic strategy will involve examination of differences by ethnicity and disease status in stressors associated with illness/caregiving, coping resources, and quality of life, as well as differences by ethnicity and disease status in the relationships between and among stressors, coping resources, and quality of life. Results of this study will provide a broader understanding of the processes affecting families providing care for all AIDS patients and will be useful in developing strategies for prevention and treatment, particularly with Hispanics.
