Concern with stress and coping has a long history in biomedical, psychological and sociological research. The inadequacy of simplistic models linking stressful life events and adverse physical and psychological outcomes was pointed out in the early 1980s in a series of seminal papers and books. The issues and theoretical models discussed in this work shaped much of the subsequent research on this topic and are reflected in the papers in this volume. The shift has been away from identifying associations between risks and outcomes to a focus on factors and processes that contribute to diversity in response to risks. Based on the Family Research Consortium's fifth summer institute, this volume focuses on stress and adaptability in families and family members. The papers explore not only how a variety of stresses influence family functioning but also how family process moderates and mediates the contribution of individual and environmental risk and protective factors to personal adjustment. They reveal the complexity of current theoretical models, research strategies and analytic approaches to the study of risk, resiliency and vulnerability along with the central role risk, family process and adaptability play in both normal development and childhood psychopathology.

Why do some families survive stressful situations while others fall apart? Can a family's beliefs and values be used as a predictor of vulnerability to stress? And most importantly, can family stress be prevented? In this Second Edition, Pauline Boss continues to explore both the larger context surrounding families and stress and the inner context, which includes perceptions and meanings. The author emphasizes the need for a more general contextual model of family stress that may be applicable to a wider diversity of people and families as well as a wider variety of stresses and crises than other models. The goal is to provide a framework for students and professionals engaged in helping families learn how to manage their stress.

Why do some families survive stressful situations while others fall apart? Can a family’s beliefs and values be used as a predictor of vulnerability to stress? And most importantly, can family stress be prevented? The Third Edition of Family Stress Management continues its original commitment to recognize both the external and internal contexts in which distressed families find themselves. With its hallmark Contextual Model of Family Stress (CMFS), the Third Edition provides practitioners and researchers with a useful framework to understand and help distressed individuals, couples, and families. The example of a universal stressor—a death in the family—highlights cultural differences in ways of coping. Throughout, there is new emphasis on diversity and the nuances of family stress management—such as ambiguous loss—plus new discussions on family resilience and community as resources for support.

Rather than investigating the pathology of families under stress, this book takes the unusual step of studying individuals, families and ethnic groups moving towards health. This approach provides new insights as to why some families manage life events with relative ease and recover from adversity with renewed strength, harmony and purpose. The contributors develop the concept of a family and culturally induced sense of coherence as the key to promoting health and well-being.

The first comprehensive text on stress and crisis management specifically tailored to courses focusing on the family Organized by stress model, this book helps readers understand the relationships among models, research, crisis prevention, and crisis management with individuals and families. Providing a balance of theory, research, hands-on applications, and intervention strategies, this innovative text presents a comprehensive overview of the field. Intended Audience Individual and Family Stress and Crises is ideal as a core text for upper division undergraduate and graduate students in courses such as Family Crisis, Family Stress & Coping, and Dysfunctions in Marriage & Family.

Many children's behavioral problems have multiple causes, and most children with one problem behavior also have others. The co-occurence and interrelatedness of risk factors and problem behavior is certainly an important area of research. This volume recognizes the complexity of the developmental processes that influence coping and resilience and the roles sociocultural factors play. The contributors focus on four themes that have emerged in the study of risk and coping over the past decade: interrelatedness of risk and problems, individual variability in resilience and susceptibility to stress, processes and mechanisms linking multiple stressors to multiple outcomes, and interventions and prevention. Psychologists, pediatricians, and others involved in the research or care of children will take great interest in this text.