Table 1.

Examples of Analogies Between the Life Course Perspective and the Mexican American Caregiving Trajectory

Concept	Life Course Perspective	Derived Concept	Examples in the Mexican-American Caregiving Trajectory
Trajectory	Health, social, and other trajectories in one’s life tend to develop together in consistent ways that reinforce each other and remain stable over time.	Caregiving trajectory	The caregiving trajectory for Mexican American families, although underresearched, should unfold over time in ways consistent with the social trajectory already established with relatives and friends.
Transitions	Transitions are significant changes in social roles or in responsibilities of an existing role, often accommodated into a trajectory as a gradual change.	Caregiving transitions	Case in point: When abuelita (little grandmother) grows increasingly confused, adult children adjust by altering their work hours so that someone is always home to act as caregiver.
Turning points	Transitions may be of sufficient magnitude to cause a break in the life course trajectory: life takes a fateful turn.	Reckoning points	Caregivers, many of whom work outside the home, may come to a “reckoning point” where they accept responsibility for caring for an aging or disabled parent because there is no one else to do it.
Timing of life events	Health is affected by accumulated disadvantage in the interaction between early-life and later-life social, behavioral, and environmental factors.	Timing of caregiving	Many older adults who emigrated, worked in low-paying jobs, and had little health care are more disabled at younger ages than Anglos yet continue to be cared for at home.
Adaptive strategies	Adaptive strategies are templates that guide the interaction between the context and culture of a group and the conscious decisions that one makes to adjust to external events.	Caregiving strategies	The need for reciprocity for their own caregiving as children compels commitment to caregiving of elders, even though privacy and family life with a spouse and children may be compromised.
Cultural and contextual influences	Cultural and contextual influences in childhood and adolescence affect adaptive strategies and health across the lifespan.	Caregiving in la familia	Age, gender, spirituality, and socioeconomic status shape the caregiving trajectory through social norms or expectations for behavior in la familia.

Source: Adapted from Wethington (2005).