Racial/ethnic differences in caregiver strain and perceived social support among parents of youth with emotional and behavioral problems.

This study examined several hypotheses related to racial/ethnic variations in caregiver strain and perceived social support among parents caring for children with emotional/behavioral problems. A subsample of youth from the Patterns of Care (POC) study, which drew a stratified random sample of high-risk youth active to 1 of 5 public sectors of care, was used to test these hypotheses. When controlling for youth age, parental education, presence in an alcohol/drug or mental health (ADM) sector, and severity of child problems, African Americans reported significantly lower caregiver strain then did non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs), whereas Asian/Pacific Islanders (APIs) and Latinos did not differ significantly from NHWs. Contrary to prediction, both African Americans and APIs reported significantly lower perceived social support than NHWs, whereas Latinos did not differ significantly from NHWs. When perceived social support was controlled, the tendency of African American and API parents to report lower caregiver strain than NHWs became more pronounced. Thus, differences in perceived social support did not explain African Americans' lower caregiver strain. Other cultural variables such as familism and tolerance should be examined to identify processes that result in reduced perception of caregiver strain among African American parents caring for children with emotional/behavioral problems.