A Grounded Theory Analysis of Multiple Sclerosis Caregiver Interviews: Utilizing Pearlin’s Stress Process Model to Explore the Gender Effects of Care

Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects more than two million people worldwide. Providing care for MS patients differs from providing care for other illnesses due to the early onset of the disease, a varying illness progression, and because MS patients are predominantly female. This qualitative research study applied Pearlin’s Stress Process Model (SPM) to explore MS caregiving in a homogeneous group of caregiver/patient dyads. Qualitative interviews were conducted with both MS patients and their caregivers utilizing grounded theory to explore the MS caregiving phenomenon. Pearlin’s SPM was used to evaluate the qualitative data, which provided insight into the gendered nature of the MS caregiving experience. This model is advantageous to help understand the intricacies of the MS care experience. This data and analysis draw from the dissertation research of the first author, Dr. Jennifer Hughes (2012), who examined the gender aspect of caregiving relationships between couples when one member of the couple dyad had been diagnosed with MS and was the receiver of care from the other member in the relationship and designated as the caregiver.