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Levels of Meaning in Family Stress Theory
Abstract
Major stressful life events, particularly those that have chronic hardships, create a crisis for families that often leads to reorganization in the family's style of functioning. A major factor in this reorganization is the meaning the family gives to the stressful event. Often the meaning extends beyond the event itself and leads to a changed view of the family system and even to a changed view of the world. Building on other family stress models, we elaborate the family's definition of the stressor into three levels of family meanings: (1) situational meanings, (2) family identity, and (3) family world view. Examples from clinical work and studies of families adapting to chronic illness are used to illustrate the relationship between these three levels of meaning, particularly as they change in response to crisis. Implications for clinical and empirical work are discussed.
... The Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response (FAAR) model (Patterson & Garwick, 1994) is a two-phase interactional model of stress and coping that reveals how families raising a child with a disability attempt to adjust and adapt to the stressors and strains placed upon them. The FAAR model was specifically conceptualized to explain the cognitive factors that influence the adaptation of families to stressful experiences living with a child with a disability or a chronic illness, with the main components of the model being based on variables that have been the foundation of family stress theory for decades (i.e. ...
... Demands are conditions that call for a change in the family system (Patterson & Garwick, 1994). Three kinds of demands exist, comprising daily hassles, stressors and strains. ...
... A crucial part of the adaptation process for caregivers is defining the situation, or attributing meaning, to the event they are experiencing (Patterson & Garwick, 1994). Meanings can be individually held or shared by members of the family unit. ...
The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of grandparents raising their grandchildren with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Specifically, we sought to identify how caregivers make meaning of their experience, what challenges are faced by grandparents while raising a second generation and what positive experiences are encountered. Ten grandparents raising a child with FASD in Ontario, Canada, participated in semi‐structured interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the interviews to determine reoccurring themes. Three main themes were identified: (i) challenges when raising a grandchild with FASD, including kinship adoption struggles and intergenerational issues; (ii) worries about the future, including financial planning and health concerns; and (iii) rewards, such as shifts in priorities and the opportunity to raise a second generation. Grandparents raising their grandchildren with FASD face challenges and thus require specific supports so that they may adequately provide a safe and nurturing home environment for children with often challenging learning and social needs.
... Pour sa part, le modèle interactionnel de réponses adaptatives de la famille (Family adjustment and adaptation response model) (FAAR; Patterson, 1988;Patterson & Garwick, 1994) met l'accent sur la façon dont les familles s'efforcent d'atteindre la stabilité ou l'homéostasie face aux événements de vie stressants. Ce modèle cyclique comporte deux phases : ajustement et adaptation. ...
... Ce modèle cyclique comporte deux phases : ajustement et adaptation. Puisque la famille est un système social, le handicap de l'enfant et le fonctionnement global de la famille interagissent constamment, de telle sorte que l'ajustement et l'adaptation représentent des processus continus (Patterson & Garwick, 1994). La phase d'ajustement du modèle reflète l'effort de la famille pour résister à une perturbation majeure de ses schémas de comportements et de sa structure. ...
... La phase d'ajustement du modèle reflète l'effort de la famille pour résister à une perturbation majeure de ses schémas de comportements et de sa structure. Les familles peuvent recourir à des stratégies d'ajustement pour éviter ou ignorer la source de stress ou les demandes supplémentaires (Patterson & Garwick, 1994), ce qui peut mener à un ajustement, à une inadaptation ou à une crise si les efforts déployés échouent. Il importe de noter ici que le terme « crise » ne réfère pas nécessairement à un événement négatif, mais représente un moment décisif où les familles doivent se restructurer et se rétablir. ...
... Family meaning system Family worldview, identity, or perceptions of situations that arise through interaction. Patterson & Garwick (1994) Family emotion system Overall emotional climate of a family that defines and regulates connections with others within and outside of the family. Includes, but is not limited to, one's sense of self in relation to one's family system, emotional bonding, emotion cycles, emotion regulation, emotion coaching, emotion socialization, emotional support. ...
... Family control systems inform the development and regulation of patterns of influence and include family power, authority, boundaries, rules, routines, and control tactics (Harrist et al., 2018;Henry et al., 2015). Family meaning systems arise through interactions and comprise a shared worldview, identity, and meanings for specific situations (Patterson & Garwick, 1994). The worldview is philosophical or spiritual in nature and involves beliefs about the world and how it works. ...
... Because family meaning systems involve a shared sense of family worldviews, identity, and ways of perceiving particular situations (Henry et al., 2015;Patterson & Garwick, 1994), it is critical to consider how these elements are involved in the emergence and management of cultural gaps in families. During and after immigration, overall family systems, subsystems, and individual family members are challenged in terms of the meaning of the heritage and mainstream cultures in their lives. ...
The intersection of a family's heritage culture and mainstream cultural norms results in person‐to‐person differences in values, beliefs, and behaviors, particularly among immigrant families. These differences often lead to divergent cultural views and patterns of behavior both within and between family members. According to the acculturation‐gap distress hypothesis, cultural orientation gaps between family members have consequences for family functioning, particularly adolescents' adjustment. Studies supporting this notion have primarily focused on processes in parent–adolescent dyads. Although scholarship on family cultural gaps emerged from a systems perspective, applications of key systems tenets are notably limited in existing work. In this article, we review the background and current state of research on family cultural gaps, provide an overview of key principles of systems perspectives, and integrate the literature on cultural gaps with key systems principles to identify future directions in research and theory.
... systems perspectives, recognizes the importance of ecosystems, and views families (a) as one of several proximal contexts (e.g., peers, communities) that increase the vulnerability or protection of individual development, or (b) as systems with functions, goals, and interaction patterns that regulate day-to-day life at multiple family system levels (Cowan & Cowan, 2006;Patterson, 2002). Families-as-context approaches are often guided by individual resilience perspectives which evolved from (Wave 1) describing children who were competent despite adversity into (Wave 2) uncovering basic processes of individual resilience, then into (Wave 3) intervention/prevention studies and identified mediators and protective moderators of risk-maladaptation linkages (Wave 3;Masten, 2007). ...
... We conceptualize family resilience as having progressed through two waves and as poised for a third wave (see Figure 1). Family resilience initially identified the strengths of resilient families (Wave 1; e.g., H. I. McCubbin & McCubbin, 1988;Patterson, 1988) and progressed into conceptual-research-application approaches emphasizing a process-oriented definition of resilience in family systems ( Wave 2;Hawley & DeHaan, 1996;Patterson, 2002;Walsh, 1998). We employ a families-as-systems approach to family resilience and highlight key developments in Waves 1 and 2 and make recommendations for Wave 3. First, we consolidate and propose family resilience 22 Family Relations 64 (February 2015): 22 -43 DOI:10.1111/fare.12106 ...
... The contextual model added internal and external contexts to the ABCX model (Boss, 2001); the double ABCX model accounted for progression over time (H. I. McCubbin & Patterson, 1983); and the family adjustment and adaptation response model (FAAR) proposed multiple periods of relative stability (adjustment) across the family life cycle when perceived demands and capabilities are balanced, and periods of imbalance (also known as a crisis or significant risk) when demands are perceived to outweigh capabilities and create a crisis (or significant risk, Patterson, 2002). Patterson (1988) conceptualized "resilient" families (pp. ...
... This reinforces findings from the adult victim literature that the experience of CSA is not a discreet incident but must be continuously and repeatedly confronted (Banyard & Williams, 2007). Family Stress Theory recognizes that adapting to a crisis involves dealing with the additional "pile-up of demand" that follows the primary stressor and integrating these experiences into the new "family world view" (Patterson & Garwick, 1994). ...
... This model posits that the impact of a stressor is determined by how the family collectively perceive and define the event. This is a reciprocal process as family members inevitably influence each other in their appraisals of stressful life events (Patterson & Garwick, 1994). The Family Stress Model also highlights the potential for a crisis to disrupt the entire family equilibrium and change the trajectory of family functioning (Rosino, 2016). ...
... The Family Stress Model also highlights the potential for a crisis to disrupt the entire family equilibrium and change the trajectory of family functioning (Rosino, 2016). These shifts can have a significant impact on family identity and individual roles within the family (Patterson & Garwick, 1994). All of the participants in this study felt that their normal family dynamics had been disrupted and their sense of family lost. ...
Despite a recent focus highlighting the systemic impact of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), the needs of nonabused siblings have been largely overlooked. This interpretative phenomenological analysis study explored the lived experience of nonabused adult siblings of survivors of CSA. Semistructured interviews were undertaken with five adult siblings who were, or had been attending a support service. Emergent themes demonstrated the personal and relational impact of CSA on siblings which were captured across five domains: trying to make sense of it all, struggling to provide support, managing the impact on the wider family, feeling silenced and finding a voice, and rescripting the future. Participants struggled to make sense of their sibling’s experience, questioning their own memories of happy childhoods, often in the face of limited information about what happened. The impact of the sexual abuse not only affected the sibling relationship but was compounded by the distress of other family members, particularly parents. Participants reported feeling a lack of reciprocity in terms of their own support needs and described ongoing issues arising from the sexual abuse that they believed would likely continue for the rest of their lives. How siblings can be supported through psychoeducation and family therapy is discussed, both for their own needs and those of the entire family.
... Family Stress Theory was historically used to investigate parental stress when faced with the stressor of raising a child with a disability [5,6]; however, the acceptance of a family-centred approach to services led to increased recognition of family functioning, family strength and resilience [5,7,8]. Bernheimer and Weisner [9] describe how family-centred practice led to an increase in the family's active role in their child's therapy services and the associated accommodations that families make in their lives to maintain their daily routines and patterns of functioning. ...
... Given that some high-risk families use the services available to them, and given that a variety of factors affect service use, it is inappropriate to equate high-risk families with hard-toreach families. Although not all high-risk families are hard-toreach, there are times when high-risk factors can limit service use; for example, living in isolation may limit service use when families are unsure about what is on offer [6], and living in poverty can make it challenging for families to afford child care programs or transportation to publicly-funded programs [24]. Overall the relationship between risk and service use is nuanced and further explored through the application of Family Stress Theory below. ...
... Group B, Families of Children with Disabilities have most often been viewed as having a demand (e.g., child with a disability or illness) that would promote crisis or create strain in the family system [3,6]. Environmental demands related to disability, such as insufficient societal acceptance and funding, have been identified [7,25]. ...
Introduction: Several concepts – risk, resilience, disability and hard-to-reach families in early intervention services – are talked and written about in many ways. Family Stress Theory can be usefully applied to explore these issues systematically.
Problem: The relationship between risk and disability is complex, and the role of resilience is not fully understood. The idea of “hard-to-reach families” is not well defined, thus presenting challenges to service providers and policy makers.
Reflection: This paper presents the Model of Risk, Disability and Hard-to-Reach Families and uses the model to: (1) define the groups of high risk families and families of children with disabilities and explore the concept of resilience within these groups; (2) describe services offered to these groups; and (3) reflect on service use and so-called “hard-to-reach families”. Each section includes suggested applications for service providers that may inform the work done with young children and their families who experience risk or disability.
Conclusion: Service providers can apply the Model of Risk, Disability and Hard-to-Reach Families to consider each family’s unique strengths and challenges, and use those individual elements to influence service recommendations and anticipate service use.
• Implications for rehabilitation
• The concepts of risk, resilience, and hard-to-reach families are poorly defined in the literatures, but have important implications with respect to early childhood intervention services.
• Family Stress Theory can help to identify high-risk families and account for family resilience
• It is important for clinicians, researchers and policy makers to consider the relationship between disability and risk with respect to services offered to families and the potential barriers to service use.
• Clinicians and policy makers have a role in promoting accessible early childhood services
... According to McCubbin and Patterson (1983), how a family responds to one stressor will inevitably influence how they respond to successive stressors. The family adjustment and adaptation response (FAAR) model (Patterson & Garwick, 1994) reveals how families raising a child with a disability attempt to adjust to the stressors placed upon them. The adjustment phase of the model signifies a period where only minimal changes are made as the family attempts to meet their demands with their current capabilities (Patterson, 1988). ...
... According to the FAAR model (Patterson, 2002;Patterson & Garwick, 1994, three kinds of demands exist: stressors, strains, and daily hassles. A stressor is defined as a life event that occurs at a discrete period of time, such as a transition into school. ...
... Families frequently report barriers to getting help from medical and mental health professionals, schools, government agencies, and community organisations (Sanders & Buck, 2010;Whitehurst, 2012). As discussed in the FAAR model (Patterson & Garwick, 1994, resources and appropriate supports are required in order to achieve adaptation; a lack of FASD-specific support for families in this study contributes to increased stress and is a barrier to adapting to having a child with FASD. ...
Background Our aim in this paper is to build upon the experience of family adaptation and to describe one unique stressor experienced by adoptive parents of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) that may hinder successful family adaptation.
Method Fifty-one adoptive parents of children with FASD from 36 families in Ontario, Canada, participated in a mixed methods study. Parents completed 2 questionnaires, the Family Crisis Oriented Personal Scales and the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress – Friedrich’s Short Form, and participated in in-depth, semistructured interviews, which were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Results Parents expressed that improved knowledge and awareness of FASD from healthcare professionals, teachers, and society as a whole would help in their adaptation to raising their children with FASD. Specifically, parents discussed the lack of recognition of the symptoms of FASD, the lack of understanding about what a diagnosis of FASD means, and the need to promote better messages of prevention.
Conclusions Our findings display a clear need for more supports for families, particularly in the area of increasing public and professional knowledge about the realities of raising a child with FASD.
... Family is a complex, dynamic system that continuously evolves in search of a balance between the complementary tendencies of stability and transformation (Malagoli Togliatti and Catugno, 1996;Skinner et al., 2000;Pellerone et al., 2017). The functioning of this complex and delicate system relies on different factors, which are related with both the individual characteristics of each member and the social context in which the family nucleus is integrated, as well as with internal and interpersonal family factors, such as communication, cohesion, adaptability, quality of marital/parental-child relationships, and problem-solving abilities (Patterson and Garwick, 1994;McFarlane et al., 1995;Martinez and Forgatch, 2002;Walsh, 2003;Wood et al., 2017). Specifically concerning the internal factors, the Process Model of Family Functioning provides a conceptual framework to understand and assess these aspects within the family unit (Steinhauer et al., 1984). ...
... The questionnaires we validated represent an extensive battery that can allow clinicians and researchers to understand the relational dynamics of each family nucleus better. Indeed, family is a complex, dynamic system, the functioning of which relies on different factors such as individual characteristics of each member, the social context in which the family nucleus is integrated, and interpersonal family relationships (Patterson and Garwick, 1994;McFarlane et al., 1995;Martinez and Forgatch, 2002;Walsh, 2003;Wood et al., 2017). The Brief FAM-III, DAS, IPPA, TAS-20, HADS, and MSPSS represent valid instruments that can be employed to evaluate each of these factors to conduct an in-depth analysis of the features of family functioning. ...
Background
Family functioning relies on different factors that are related to the individual characteristics of each member, the social context in which the family nucleus is integrated, and the internal and interpersonal family factors. The Short Version of the Family Assessment Measure-III, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, Twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support are among the most commonly employed self-report measures for the assessment of family functioning and related factors. Traditionally, these scales have been administered using paper-and-pencil versions. However, with increased access to the Internet, online administration of questionnaires has become more common. The present study aimed to validate an online version of each of the above-mentioned questionnaires in a heterogeneous sample of Italian healthy individuals.Methods
One-hundred participants were recruited for each questionnaire. A crossover design was used in each validation. The minimum important difference (MID) was applied to evaluate the differences in the variances of the paper-and-pencil and online format scores. A MID >0.5 is a reasonable first approximation of a threshold of important change. Taking into account the cross over design, mean difference between pencil-and-paper and online versions, and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient were also estimated by mixed models.ResultsThe MID was <0.5 for all the instruments used. Therefore, no significant difference was observed between the score variances of the paper-and-pencil and online formats of all the questionnaires. Moreover, for each questionnaire the difference between the means of online and paper-and-pencil administrations scores (mean O-P) was calculated. We reported 95% confidence intervals that did not include the 0; therefore, mean (O-P) was not statistically significant.Conclusions
The current findings indicate that the online versions of all the questionnaires we administered can be considered reliable tools for the assessment of family functioning and related factors.
... She also posits that family's perceptions are easier to change; thus, it is the optimal point of entry for practitioners working with families trying to manage stress. Patterson and Garwick (1994) proposed that these family perceptions operate on three abstract levels. ...
... A family's collective identity is another level of meaning that is influenced by social and cultural factors. In particular, how the family views their internal structure and functioning influences how they construct meanings of their stressors, resources, and coping capabilities (Patterson & Garwick, 1994). One component of a family's identity includes an understanding of who is in and out of the family (Boss, 2002;Boss et al., 2016). ...
Family stress models have a long and rich history in family science research and are useful frameworks for understanding multicultural families. Although these models add greatly to research on diverse families in general, we believe that the almost exclusive focus on cross‐cultural replications may come at the cost of a more culturally and contextually informed understanding of specific groups such as African Americans. In this article, we expand current family stress models using two key extensions that challenge some of the underlying assumptions and situate constructs within intersectionality and mundane extreme environmental stress (MEES) perspectives. In addition, we introduce an integrative theoretical framework, the sociocultural family stress (SFS) model, which includes explicit considerations of both the culture and heterogeneity of African Americans and their families. Suggestions for future research are discussed.
... When working systemically, personal challenges of a more substantial magnitude become problems for the couple. Relationships are reciprocal; a change in one-person results in changes to the system (Patterson and Garwick 1994). As marriage and family therapists, using a systemic framework is common, however often medical conditions are not considered or assessed for in practice. ...
... Research has addressed that chronic health conditions affect individuals and family relationships (McDaniel et al. 2014). So, although they may not be the primary concern of therapy it is likely, because of the reciprocal nature of relationships, the presence of chronic health conditions is affecting the system (Patterson and Garwick 1994). ...
Chronic health conditions affect over 100 million Americans (Cano and Leonard in J Clin Psychol 62(11):1409–1418, 2006). Many clinicians are not integrating chronic physical health symptoms into psychotherapy. There is a complexity of issues that arise within the context of chronic health conditions. Making more need for couple and family therapists, whose primary focus is on a systemic family perspective, to understand how chronic health conditions are impacting family systems when they present for therapy (Canavarro and Dattilio in Contemp Fam Ther 33:87–90, 2011; Poleshuck et al. in Prof Psychol 41(4):312–318, 2010). The correlation of chronic health conditions on marriages and relationships has received limited attention in clinical research. This secondary data analysis examines the differences in overall well-being and psychological distress of individuals and couples seeking therapy who report a presence of chronic health conditions. Original research on the relationship between chronic health conditions and well-being, as measured by comparison of means, will be presented. Few studies investigate how chronic health conditions, when not the primary reason for seeking therapy, influence wellbeing and distress upon entering therapy. This study included 2742 participants from a clinical sample of individuals and couple seeking therapy in a family therapy clinic at a university training clinic. Independent t-tests, as well as ANOVA, were run to compare well-being and psychological distress of individuals and couples in the sample. Results showed significant differences in both overall wellbeing and psychological distress for both individuals who reported chronic illness for themselves, or their partners, than those that reported no chronic illness. There were also significant differences between groups on both well-being and psychological distress [F (2, 2706) = 47.55, p = .00, F (2, 2697) = 54.59, p = .00]. This results showed significant differences in well-being when no member of the couple has chronic health conditions, one member, or both members, with both members decreasing wellbeing significantly. This study demonstrates that chronic health conditions impact both the individual diagnosed, their partners, and is especially impactful if both members of a couple are diagnosed with chronic health conditions. Study limitations and clinical implications are also discussed.
... Bir başka ifadeyle eğitim düzeyi yüksek ebeveynler ve çekirdek aile faktörünün NGG çocuğun gelişimine olumlu yönde katkı sağladığı ifade edilebilir. Ayrıca ebeveynlerin olumlu tutumlarının, sıcak ve sevgi dolu yaklaşımlarının, kardeş ilişkilerini olumlu yönde etkileyebildiği ile ilgili araştırma bulguları mevcuttur(Patterson;2002;Patterson & Garwick, 1994).Bu araştırmaya katılan özel gereksinimli çocuğu olan ailelere ilişkin dikkat çekilmesi gereken önemi nokta ise aile içi yaşanan stres ve NGG kardeşe yüklenen sorumluluklara ilişkindir.Alanyazındaki çalışmalar, aileye özel gereksinimli bir çocuğun dâhil olmasıyla birlikte aile üyelerinde stresin artabildiğini, kardeşlere de ek sorumluluklar yüklenebildiğini(Benson & Karlof, 2008; Reimers, 2017) ve aile bireylerinin yeni duruma uyum sağlamakta zorlanabildiklerini ifade etmektedir(Giallo & Gabidia-Payne, 2006). Bu bağlamda, araştırmanın sonuçları, belirtilen çalışmalardan farklı olarak, özel gereksinimli çocuğu olan ebeveynlerin NGG çocuklarına kardeşlerine ilişin ek sorumluluk yüklemediği şeklinde yorumlanabilir. ...
Psikolojik dayanıklılık, stresli ve zorlu durumlardan sonra yeniden toparlanabilme, eskiye dönebilme becerisi olarak ifade edilebilir. Okul öncesi dönem çocuklarının psikolojik dayanıklılıklarını etkileyen çok sayıda değişken bulunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, ebeveyn görüşlerine dayalı olarak özel gereksinimli ve normal gelişim özelliği gösteren kardeşe sahip olmanın okul öncesi dönem çocuklarının psikolojik dayanıklılıkları üzerinde etkisinin olup olmadığı araştırılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubu, Türkiye genelindeki özel gereksinimli kardeşi olan ve olmayan 5-6 yaş grubundan 130 çocuktan oluşmaktadır. Çalışma grubundaki çocukların tamamı normal gelişim özelliği göstermektedir. Bulgulara göre özel gereksinimli kardeşi olup olmamanın, okul öncesi dönem çocuklarının psikolojik dayanıklılıkları üzerinde anlamlı düzeyde bir etkisi bulunmamaktadır. Bu sonuç, anne-babaların eğitim düzeyinin yüksek olması, ailedeki çocuk sayısının az olması ve araştırmaya katılan çocukların çoğunluğunun okul öncesi eğitimi almasıyla ilişkilendirilmiştir. Araştırma sonuçları, kardeş ve psikolojik dayanıklılık araştırmaları açısından önem taşımaktadır. Okul öncesi dönemde psikolojik dayanıklılık ve kardeş ilişkilerine yönelik araştırmaların arttırılmasına ihtiyaç bulunmaktadır.
... All these might result in high levels of stress to parents. If parents' stress is not managed well, it may have a deleterious impact on both parents' and children's quality of life [7,9]. This is a vicious cycle further hindering parents' abilities and confidences in providing quality care to their unwell children living at home. ...
Background:
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between children's reported symptom burden and their parents' quality of life, and whether parents' perceived stress mediates this relationship.
Method:
this was a cross-sectional quantitative research study. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 80 pairs of parents and their children with cancer. Advanced statistical methods were used to analyse the mediating effects of parental stress between children's symptom burden and parents' quality of life.
Results:
The results showed that parental stress was the mediator in the relationship between children's reported symptom burden and their parents' quality of life.
Conclusions:
Symptom burden was prevalent in Chinese children with cancer living in the community. Children's symptom burden is an important factor in predicting parental stress level, which simultaneously and directly lower parents' quality of life. The evidence in this study enlarges the knowledge base about the mediating effect of parental stress on the association between the symptom burden of children with cancer and their parents' quality of life. This evidence is crucial in paving the way for the development of interventions that improve the parental quality of life through stress-reduction programs.
... The FAAR Model constructs family resilience as the active process by which families adapt to risk exposure (Patterson, 2002). During the adjustment phase of the FAAR Model, families balance demands (i.e., stressors, strains, and hassles) that can co-occur and accumulate over time, utilize capabilities (i.e., coping behaviors, resources, or support) to manage or alleviate demands, and find meaning (i.e., situational, family identity, and worldview) in how demands and capabilities shape their shared orientation (Patterson & Garwick, 1994). A family crisis occurs when demands on the family exceed their existing capabilities, creating an imbalance. ...
Objective:
Using components of the Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response Model, Critical Race Feminism, and Sites of Resilience this study explored how street-identified Black American mothers engage in street life, while juggling the pressures of childrearing, family, and home life within a distressed, urban Black community.
Background:
Street-identified Black American mothers are vilified for their intersecting identities of being Black women who are experiencing poverty, and who may also be involved in illegal activity. Black mothers are disproportionately represented in the criminal legal system, but existing research has inadequately examined how street-identified Black mothers "do" family in the confines of structural violence.
Method:
We addressed this gap by analyzing interview data with 39 street-identified Black American mothers ages 18 to 54. Data were collected using street participatory action research.
Results:
We identified a typology of three adaptive mothering strategies employed by street-identified Black women as they respond to and cope with violent structural conditions shaping their mothering: constrained mothering, racialized mothering, and aspirational mothering.
Conclusion:
Findings suggested that these strategies were developed in response to an overarching carceral apparatus, of which these mothers were tasked with avoiding when possible and confronting when necessary. Their mothering strategies were shaped by a collective, Black American cultural identity and worldview, and the mothers possessed a unique way of perceiving the world as criminalized subjects with disproportionate proximity to the punitive State.
... Research concerning the families of children with a sensory loss has shifted the attention from the theme of "family stress" to the consequences of adaptation, and the functional use of coping strategies to go beyond the difficulties linked to disability. This changing includes the connection among the main perspectives referred to adjustment, coping with stress, resilience, and quality of life [61][62][63][64][65][66]. Taking into consideration this last point of view, the principal models of coping chosen as theoretical frameworks are represented by the Folkman and Lazarus' Ways of Coping [67] and the Carver, Scheier, and Weintraub's model [68]. ...
The main purpose of this cross-sectional study, carried out with deaf parents and blind parents, is to analyze the association of coping strategies, life satisfaction, well-being, and generalized self-efficacy, compared to a group of parents without a sensory loss. The Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced, Satisfaction with Life, Generalized Self-efficacy, and Psychological Well-Being scales were applied. Results indicate that: (1) deaf parents and blind parents search for social support, use avoidance, and turn to religion more than those without a sensory loss; (2) deaf parents are more satisfied with life than blind parents and those without a sensory loss; (3) deaf parents and blind parents perceive themselves as less efficacious than those without a sensory loss; (4) deaf parents and blind parents report lower psychological well-being (autonomy and personal growth) than those without a sensory loss, except for self-acceptance. Searching for social support and turning to religion are negatively associated with life satisfaction in deaf parents and those without a sensory loss; further, these coping strategies (together with avoidance) affect the psychological well-being of deaf parents and parents without a sensory loss. Future research could investigate deeper into the effects of these dimensions on well-being and the styles of parenting in these families.
... Cancer causes more stress, anxiety, and fear to parents than other chronic diseases. 8,[10][11][12][13] This distress does not diminish over time. 14,15 Stress might increase the likelihood of reporting bias. ...
Background:
Because of their cancer and treatment adverse effects, most pediatric oncology patients will experience 1 or more symptoms at one time that can seriously affect their quality of life. Because these children are attached to parents, their symptom burden directly influences the parental stress level and parental interpretations of their children's quality of life.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to examine the association between child-reported symptom burden and the pediatric quality of life reported by children with cancer and their parents, and whether parental perceived stress mediates these relationships.
Methods:
In a cross-sectional design, convenience sampling was used to recruit 80 parent-child dyads. Advanced statistical methods were adopted to analyze the mediating effects of parental stress between children's symptom burden and their quality of life.
Results:
The results revealed that parental stress was the mediator in the relationship between child-reported symptom burden and children's quality of life reported by parents. The results also showed that parental stress was not a mediator in the relationship between child-reported symptom burden and their quality of life. This underscored the differences in interpretations of quality of life reported by children and their parents.
Conclusion:
Children's symptom burden is an important factor in predicting parental stress level and the quality of life reported by the children. Children's voice should be incorporated whenever possible.
Implications for practice:
The knowledge gained from this study will facilitate intervention development to enhance parents' abilities in stress management and symptom management for their children with the support of the nursing profession.
... These family stress and coping models (Hobfoll & Spielberger, 1992), including Hill's ABC-X model (Hill, 1949), which was later expanded on in the Double ABCX model (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983), and the Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response (FAAR) model (Patterson, 1988;Patterson & Garwick, 1994), posit that, when faced with a stressor (e.g., childhood illness), families cope by using individual family member strengths (e.g., self-esteem) and family-level resources (e.g., flexibility, cohesion), changing perceptions of the stressor and their resources, or removing demands associated with the stressor, in order to adjust to day-today challenges and restore balance or equilibrium within the family. The Double ABCX and FAAR models have demonstrated utility in guiding studies of family adaptation and resilience across a wide range of childhood chronic health conditions (Patterson, 2005). ...
Self-report family functioning measures play a critical role in advancing our understanding of how families are impacted by, and adapt to, the demands of childhood health conditions. In this article, we present key considerations when conceptualizing, assessing, and analyzing dynamic family processes in research; discuss related implications for selecting instruments; and provide an update on the evidence base of self-report family functioning measures. Researchers need to consider theory, definitions of the family, informants, instruments, and procedural and data analytic issues when designing family research. Examples of questionnaires assessing general family functioning, dyadic relationships, and family functioning within the context of pediatric health conditions are provided. Additional evidence of validity, reliability, clinical utility, and cultural sensitivity of these measures is needed within pediatric chronic illness populations. Future research should include multiple family members and utilize varied assessment methods to obtain a comprehensive understanding of family functioning in the context of pediatric health conditions.
... This study is guided by family stress theory (Hill, 1949;Patterson & Garwick, 1994), which recognizes the role that stressors play in family functioning. Family stress theory was originally developed with the goal of explaining why some family relationships when faced with adversities or stressful life events deteriorate whereas others positively adapt and cope (Hill, 1949). ...
About 30% of children referred to child protective services each year in the US experience recurring maltreatment. Maltreatment has been linked to a myriad of negative developmental outcomes for children, such as externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Yet, few studies have examined services to prevent recurrences of maltreatment among reunified children. Utilizing data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being II (NSCAW II), the objective of this study was to investigate types of services that decreased recurrences of child maltreatment post-reunification. The sample included n = 1,168 children who were in out-of-home care at Wave One (2008) and had reunified at Wave Two (2009–2010). These children were followed for 18 months (2011–2012) to compare to those who experienced a substantiated recurrence of child maltreatment after reunification to those who did not. Survival analysis was conducted with time to recurrence as the outcome variable. Results suggest that about one in five children experienced recurrences of maltreatment during the first 18 months of reunification. Rates of parental service utilization were high (63%). Adjusting for covariates, only out-of-home prevention services (HR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.24–0.75, p <.01) was negatively associated with recurrences of maltreatment. Implications for research, practice, as well as limitations, are discussed.
... Caregiving partners are at greater risk for emotional distress and higher levels of burden [10]. To manage this situation, strategies of keeping the family together have been described [11][12]. From the acute phase, continuous information and being involved are of importance for a family after STBI [12][13][14], and about 1 year after the injury family members reported being embedded within the experience of a relative's brain injury [15]. ...
Purpose: To explore the experiences of being a family with one member suffering from severe traumatic brain injury (STBI) up to 7 years earlier through narrative family interviews.
Methods: There are few studies where a family as a unit, including persons with STBI, are interviewed together. This study used a family systems research approach following a qualitative interpretative design. Therefore, 21 families with a total of 47 family members were interviewed. Qualitative content analysis was used to reveal categories with sub-categories and a theme.
Results: “From surviving STBI towards stability, through the unknown, into a new everyday life and a new future as a family” characterized the implicit message. The results revealed two categories both with three subcategories. The first category characterized the rapid change from a normal everyday life to one of uncertainty and finally to one of stability, and the second category described how it is to adapt as a family after STBI.
Conclusions: Long-term experiences of STBI show the importance for the whole family of belonging to a context, having a job, and having something to belong to as a way to achieve stability. Families` feelings of loneliness and lack of treatment and support are challenges for professionals when trying to involve families in care and rehabilitation.
• IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION
• A sense of belonging, having a purpose and a social network are important within families.
• Professionals can provide information and can help to eliminate misunderstandings for individuals with severe traumatic brain injury and their families.
• It is important for rehabilitation professionals to undertake a thorough family assessment.
• This assessment will support families become involved in the process of rehabilitation.
... Family schemas are the family stories or shared understandings among family members created for the purpose of adaptation to crisis or problems. The meaning of an event can be categorized into three levels, situational, family identity, and family world view (Patterson and Garwick, 1994). The situational meaning describes how the family typically sees themselves as responding to stress or life events. ...
Genetic testing in minor children presents a complex ethical and social problem. Current guidelines state that genetic testing of children is recommended only under circumstances where a clear medical or psychosocial benefit to the child can be demonstrated. Because of the difficulty in determining a psychosocial benefit, the discussion about genetic testing of minors ultimately tends to focus on who has the right to make the decision and whose right to autonomy is jeopardized, the parent's or the child's, when there is no identified medical benefit. Historically, a western bioethics paradigm, Principlism, has been used to guide genetic counseling sessions and genetic‐testing guidelines for minors. This bioethics paradigm is guided by the principles: respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Genetic testing in children, when viewed through a traditional bioethics filter is limited by its focus on the individual because children are not only individuals, they are also integral parts of a larger social context, that of their family. Because this bioethics paradigm places a strong emphasis on individual autonomy, the family's beliefs and values and the parents' concern for their children may be overshadowed by the medical community's attempt to preserve the child's “right” to an autonomous decision about genetic testing. The purpose of this paper is to first discuss the circumstances in which genetic testing of minors occurs and then present a theoretical and ethics‐based conceptual framework that may be useful in the development of genetic counseling interventions.
... The qualitative analysis of the collected answers shows that according to the 53% of interviewed parents, adoption proves to be an opportunity to integrate their families, overcoming the difficulties related to the absence of a natural offspring. Different papers (Antonovsky, 1998;Patterson & Garwick, 1994) report that giving relevance to a critical situation (in our sample, the absence of natural offspring) and maintaining a positive attitude greatly contributes to its sustainability. ...
Objectives Transition to parenthood represents a crucial process, followed by significant changes concerning individual and familial psychological wellbeing. Adoptive parenthood can be particularly critical. Knowing how to support resilient attitude of adopting families can lead to successful adoption. Our main aim was to analyse coping strategies and processes that characterize adoption. Materials and Methods 19 families, attending courses on adoption, were recruited; parental age ranges from 35 to 65 yrs. An ad-hoc semi-structured interview based on the three assumptions of familiar resiliency (systems of belief, organizational set-ups and communicative processes) was used. Results Qualitative analysis has been performed by three independent referees.
According to 53% of the interviewed, adoption represents the opportunity to expand family; for the 47%, negative circumstances after adoption have been overcame by the attitude of husband and wife to hold out together; in the 37% of the cases, the more apt to give strength to the couple, are the stability of the relationship and enduring dialogue, in order to follow a shared course of action.
Out of the family, the social resources most frequently utilized in the first months after the adoption were: extended family (63%), friends (47%) and professionals (74%). The 100% of families feels able to talk about adoption with children. Conclusions The attitude of adoptive couples to set-up effective coping strategies and adaptive abilities to the new situation disclose an excellent familiar resiliency. Supporting families proves of the utmost importance, giving attention to protective factors within the couple, during the transition to adoptive parenthood.
... Best practices for ensuring people with IDD are empowered in directing their lives include supported decision making (Devi, 2013) and person-directed planning (Martin, Grandia, Ouellette-Kuntz, & Cobigo, 2016). At the same time, family systems theory holds that individuals are interconnected and interdependent (Bowen, 1978); family stress and resilience theories hold that families co-construct identities and worldviews (Patterson & Garwick, 1994); and self-determination theory holds that individuals develop and express self-determination in the context of their relationships and socioecological environments (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Self-determination may involve interdependence with others so long as interests and opinions are respected (Young, 2001) and voluntarily relinquishing or sharing control with others so long as congruence remains between the level of control desired and exercised (Abery & Stancliffe, 2003). ...
Background
This study explored the way families support self‐determination in young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) during life transitions.
Method
Qualitative case studies were conducted with two Canadian families who participated in semi‐structured interviews and ethnographic observations every quarter for one year. Analyses were informed by family systems theory and self‐determination theory.
Findings
Families considered the needs and preferences of the young adults with IDD, suggesting individualized approaches for balancing independence and protection. Families set short‐term and long‐term goals for increased independence, scaffolded the learning of new skills and collaborated on important choices. Collaboration occurred to the extent that all family members perceived agency in planning and implementing transitions.
Conclusions
Families supported the young adults with IDD in their psychological needs for competence, relatedness and autonomy, which allowed them to experience self‐determination. Findings have implications for supporting self‐determination and transition planning in the family system.
... Recently, the focus of research studies on families with sensorial disabled children and adolescents has shifted from familial stress to the effects of positive adaptation and coping strategies to manage and overcome the difficulties deriving from disability, by correlating the main perspectives on family stress, adjustment, and resilience (Patterson & Garwick, 1994;Walsh, 1996;Patterson, 2002) with the eudaimonic and hedonic perspectives (see Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin,1985;Peterson, Ruch, Beermann, Park, & Seligman, 2007;Ryff & Singer, 2008) better expressed under the umbrella concept of flourishing typically emerging from the positive psychology (Delle Fave, Brdar, Freire, Vella-Brodrick, & Wissing, 2011;Seligman, 2011;Henderson & Knight, 2012). Considering the role of the quality of family life in terms of approach to well-being, several studies investigated the coping strategies, mainly used by parents of disabled children (see Sullivan, 2002;Hussain & Juyal, 2007;Lopez, Clifford, Minnes, & Ouellette-Kuntz, 2008;Dabrowska & Pisula, 2010) dysfunctional to guarantee a condition of well-being for themselves and their sons; these strategies were rarely analyzed directly in relation to both subjective and psychological components of well-being. ...
The main purpose of this investigation was to examine differences between deaf and hearing parents in relation to coping strategies, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being, as well as the role of coping strategies used by deaf and hearing parents to satisfy their own life and improve their psychological well-being. A sample of 75 adults, divided in 36 deaf and 39 hearing parents with deaf children (aged 4-7 yrs) and preadolescents (aged 9-13 yrs), were recruited from users referring to the Center for Deaf Families (Sicily). The Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced-NVI (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989), the Satisfaction with Life scale (Pavot & Diener, 2008), and the Psychological Well-being Scales (Ryff & Keyes, 1995) were used. Deaf parents turned out to use more maladaptive coping strategies and reported lower psychological well-being than the hearing ones, with low levels of autonomy, personal growth, positive relationships, and purpose in life. Despite expectations to the contrary, deaf parents were more satisfied with their lives than the hearing ones. It seems that coping strategies, such as searching for social support and avoidance, negatively affected life expectations of both deaf and hearing parents, while turning to religion had positive effects; additionally, these coping strategies (especially, searching for social support, avoidance, and turning to religion) affected the psychological well-being of deaf and hearing parents. Future research might focus on the effects of other dimensions (e.g. resilience and religious beliefs) on well-being of parents of disabled children.
... If the family does not overcome each of these steps, there may be an "arrest". Consequently, family is a fundamental resource and an ally in the treatment of neurological patients, (Patterson & Garwick, 1994;Rolland, 1994;Rolland, 2002;Rolland, 2011;Rolland & Walsh, 2005) and it could be very important to consider the family as an essential element in the rehabilitative training. Indeed, the role of the family allows a suitable compliance of the patient to the treatments, and supports the processes of adaptive reorganization. ...
Background:
Acquired Brain injury (ABI) is a very critical event in a family, as it is a highly distressing and traumatic experience, imposing a very deep reorganization of the whole family.
Objective:
This study aims to evaluate the possible correlation between the family aspects and the patients' functional outcomes after rehabilitation.
Methods:
Fifteen patient-caregiver pairs were enrolled in the study. All the patients were assessed by using specific neuropsychological and functional scales, including the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales, before and after treatment.
Results:
The results reveal that when the caregiver is the son or the spouse (p = 0,71), the perception of the emotional and physical burden is stronger, while the scores related to the burden were lower in the presence of other kinds of relationship. The family functioning seems to be connected to the burden level for the caregivers. Furthermore, there is a significant correlation between the improvements observed in the patients during their rehabilitative training and the family dynamics.
Conclusions:
in our opinion, the family plays a key role in allowing a suitable compliance of the patient to the treatments, and supports the processes of adaptive reorganization.
... Recently, the focus of research studies on families with sensorial disabled children and adolescents has shifted from familial stress to the effects of positive adaptation and coping strategies to manage and overcome the difficulties deriving from disability, by correlating the main perspectives on family stress, adjustment, and resilience (Patterson & Garwick, 1994;Walsh, 1996;Patterson, 2002) with the eudaimonic and hedonic perspectives (see Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin,1985;Peterson, Ruch, Beermann, Park, & Seligman, 2007;Ryff & Singer, 2008) better expressed under the umbrella concept of flourishing typically emerging from the positive psychology (Delle Fave, Brdar, Freire, Vella-Brodrick, & Wissing, 2011;Seligman, 2011;Henderson & Knight, 2012). Considering the role of the quality of family life in terms of approach to well-being, several studies investigated the coping strategies, mainly used by parents of disabled children (see Sullivan, 2002;Hussain & Juyal, 2007;Lopez, Clifford, Minnes, & Ouellette-Kuntz, 2008;Dabrowska & Pisula, 2010) dysfunctional to guarantee a condition of well-being for themselves and their sons; these strategies were rarely analyzed directly in relation to both subjective and psychological components of well-being. ...
... La familia o sistema familiar no es sólo el conjunto de personas que la componen, sino que también incluye las interrelaciones entre éstas o "funcionamiento familiar". Características importantes del funcionamiento familiar son la efectividad de la comunicación, la cohesión, la flexibilidad, el estilo de solución de problemas, la expresión del afecto y el control del comportamiento (Patterson y Garwick, 1994). ...
... Family adaptation is conceptualized as resulting from the capabilities of families or individual family members to utilize resources in response to demands. From this response, the family is able to assign meaning to their situation, develop a family identity separate from the diagnosis, and establish relationships with supportive extra-familial environments [51]. In our study, caregiver respondents were predominantly non-Hispanic white and had at least some college education; thus, financial resources available to the family may have protected against some effects of stress on family adaptation. ...
Background:
Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies, collectively referred to as dystrophinopathies, are recessive X-linked disorders characterized by progressive muscle weakness and ultimately cardiac and respiratory failure. Immediate family members are often primary caregivers of individuals with a dystrophinopathy.
Methods:
We explored the impact of this role by inviting primary caregivers (n = 209) of males diagnosed with childhood-onset dystrophinopathy who were identified by the Muscular Dystrophy Surveillance, Tracking, and Research Network (MD STARnet) to complete a mailed questionnaire measuring perceived social support and stress, spirituality, and family quality of life (FQoL). Bivariate and multivariate analyses examined associations between study variables using the Double ABCX model as an analytic framework.
Results:
Higher stressor pile-up was associated with lower perceived social support (r = -0.29, p < .001), availability of supportive family (r = -0.30, p < .001) or non-family (r = -0.19, p < .01) relationships, and higher perceived stress (r = 0.33, p < .001); but not with spirituality (r = -0.14, p > 0.05). FQoL was positively associated with all support measures (correlations ranged from: 0.25 to 0.58, p-values 0.01-0.001) and negatively associated with perceived stress and control (r = -0.49, p < .001). The association between stressor pile-up and FQoL was completely mediated through global perceived social support, supportive family relationships, and perceived stress and control; supportive non-family relationships did not remain statistically significant after controlling for other mediators.
Conclusions:
Findings suggest caregiver adaptation to a dystrophinopathy diagnosis can be optimized by increased perceived control, supporting family resources, and creation of a healthy family identity. Our findings will help identify areas for family intervention and guide clinicians in identifying resources that minimize stress and maximize family adaptation.
... The family and individual member's response and capacity to adapt to financial stressors are active and dynamic (Hill 1949) and are influenced by their coping mechanisms (McCubbin and Patterson 1983;Patterson and Garwick 1994). The majority of studies on effective coping strategies have focused on coping as a factor of parental perception and response (e.g., Ponnet 2014), but few have looked into coping mechanisms, such as self-regulation, from the perspective of the children. ...
The ability to control one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors is known as self-regulation. Family stress and low adolescent self-regulation have been linked with increased engagement in risky sexual behaviors, which peak in late adolescence and early adulthood. The purpose of this study was to assess whether adolescent self-regulation, measured by parent and adolescent self-report and respiratory sinus arrhythmia, mediates or moderates the relationship between family financial stress and risky sexual behaviors. We assessed these relationships in a 4-year longitudinal sample of 450 adolescents (52 % female; 70 % white) and their parents using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that high family financial stress predicts engagement in risky sexual behaviors as mediated, but not moderated, by adolescent self-regulation. The results suggest that adolescent self-regulatory capacities are a mechanism through which proximal external forces influence adolescent risk-taking. Promoting adolescent self-regulation, especially in the face of external stressors, may be an important method to reduce risk-taking behaviors as adolescents transition to adulthood.
... Conceptual modelling of the injury trajectory (provided in Figure 2) can inform implementation of targeted resilience-based interventions for young people (25,26) and family centred care for families of injured young people (47,48), as well as early integrated rehabilitation programs (38). For example, within both the polytrauma and TBI trajectories modelling indicates that individual and family anxiety levels spike around the time of transfer to the ward from ICU. ...
Background:
Adolescents and young people are the population at greatest risk of injury and therefore injury-related mortality and morbidity. Inquiry into the injury trajectory of young people is needed to identify this group's specific needs for healthcare. This paper reports the integration of quantitative and qualitative findings from a sequential explanatory mixed methods study examining young people aged 16-24 years' experience and trajectory of traumatic physical injury in the initial six months. The aim of integration was to address the question: In what ways are injured young peoples' experiences and self-management during the initial six months of the injury trajectory impacted by their injury, family support, and provision of healthcare?
Methods:
Key findings from epidemiological datasets on young person injuries from hospital and coronial databases (Phase 1) were combined with key findings from qualitative interviews with 12 injured young people and 10 family members (Phase 2).
Results:
The integration of findings from Phase 1 and Phase 2 resulted in three new findings; [1] (Alfred Health, 2014). A young person's perception of the severity of their injury, as well as the amount of time spent in hospital, impacts substantially on the way in which they experience injury, and this is managed differently between genders; [2] (Newnam et al., 2014). Admission to an Intensive care unit, including the intensity and duration of care, is the primary influence on how a family will provide support to the young person in the inpatient period; and [3] (Lyons et al., 2010). Young people's perception and understanding of their recovery from injury is in contrast with how healthcare systems are structured to provide rehabilitation and recovery care.
Conclusion:
The injury trajectory and recovery process of young people in the six months following injury have been have conceptualised. These trajectories of recovery can inform the development of anticipatory guidance frameworks for clinicians and guide the provision of and planning for clinical services for injured young people.
Parenting is a critical influence on the development of children across the globe. This handbook brings together scholars with expertise on parenting science and interventions for a comprehensive review of current research. It begins with foundational theories and research topics, followed by sections on parenting children at different ages, factors that affect parenting such as parental mental health or socioeconomic status, and parenting children with different characteristics such as depressed and anxious children or youth who identify as LGBTQ. It concludes with a section on policy implications, as well as prevention and intervention programs that target parenting as a mechanism of change. Global perspectives and the cultural diversity of families are highlighted throughout. Offering in-depth analysis of key topics such as risky adolescent behavior, immigration policy, father engagement, family involvement in education, and balancing childcare and work, this is a vital resource for understanding the most effective policies to support parents in raising healthy children.
This chapter provides an overview of understanding parenting using a family systems lens with consideration of diversity in family structures as well as adversity and resilience using the example of poverty. First, an overview of key concepts in systems perspectives is introduced. Second, family adaptive systems are presented as a promising guide to family systems to guide parenting. Third, examples of using a systems lens to understand parenting are provided, focusing on variation in family forms and the ecosystem stressor of poverty as a form of adversity, and resilience. Selected recommendations for advancing parenting research and practice are highlighted.
Σκοπός της παρούσας θεωρητικής περιγραφής είναι να σκιαγραφηθεί το φαινόμενο της ανθεκτικότητας ως ένα συστημικό και πολυδιάστατο φαινόμενο που μπορεί να θωρακίσει τα παιδιά και τις οικογένειες απέναντι σε παράγοντες επικινδυνότητας που αυξάνουν την πιθανότητα δημιουργίας προβλημάτων στην ανάπτυξη του παιδιού και της οικογένειας. Επιπρόσθετα, συζητείται ο ρόλος που διαδραματίζει η γονικότητα στη διαμόρφωση της ατομικής ανθεκτικότητας του παιδιού και της ανθεκτικότητας του οικογενειακού συστήματος, αλλά και ο πιθανός συνδετικός ρόλος της γονικότητας ανάμεσα στην ανθεκτικότητα των δυο συστημάτων (ατομικού και οικογενειακού). Τέλος, γίνονται εισηγήσεις για περαιτέρω διερεύνηση σε θέματα που θα οδηγήσουν στην κατανόηση του τρόπου με τον οποίο η γονικότητα προσδιορίζει την ανθεκτικότητα των δυο συστημάτων.
A key challenge for individuals and families is to maintain and restore competent functioning despite adversities or transitions. Inspired by individual resilience, family stress, family systems, and related perspectives, family scholars and other professionals are increasingly embracing family resilience theory. Family resilience theory focuses on mobilizing or accessing capabilities to function effectively despite significant risk (Henry et al., 2015). This theory provides a framework for research and practice addressing specific challenges (or risks), adaptive success, and processes fostering adaptive success (Masten & Cicchetti, 2016). We provide a synopsis of family resilience theory, addressing the origins and historical development; core assumptions, key constructs, and interrelations among constructs; main problems, questions, and limitations; examples of research; and areas for future growth.
Estrategias para la construcción de paz en Colombia: un enfoque multidisciplinar es un libro por capítulos desarrollado en el marco del Doctorado de Métodos Alternos de Solución de Conflictos de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL), auspiciado por la Universidad Simón Bolívar. Así mismo, estos trabajos de investigación están respaldados por la Red Académica Internacional de Investigación para la Paz (RAIIP) El texto fue articulado en ocho capítulos, organizados de la manera siguiente: Capítulo 1. Mediación: método autónomo de resolución de conflictos comunitarios desarrollado en el contexto colombiano; Capítulo 2. La adaptación escolar de los niños y niñas migrantes, un reto más para una comunidad en medio de la crisis; Capítulo 3. La democratización de los medios de comunicación en Colombia como aspecto esencial para avanzar en la construcción de una cultura de paz; Capítulo 4. Familias transnacionales y sus retos ante las crisis migratorias actuales; Capítulo 5. Mujer y crisis fronteriza una visión desde el área metropolitana de Cúcuta; Capítulo 6. Memoria, perdón y postconflicto; Capítulo 7. Desintegración familiar, duelo y resiliencia en migrantes; Capítulo 8. Integración social en el marco de la migración venezolana: una propuesta integral de intervención psicosocial
Using the Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response Model as the guiding theoretical framework, this hermeneutic phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of individuals and families adapting to life with chronic heart failure (CHF). We analysed 17 interviews with either individuals or families from a medical centre in a metropolitan city in Taiwan. The processes of adaptation involved families’ efforts to reduce or manage demands by utilising their existing capabilities, to strengthen and expand coping strategies, and to change meanings that shaped how they responded to their situations. The findings demonstrate the roles of family capabilities and family meanings in the process of a family living with CHF.
Recent decades have witnessed the development of inclusive education in China. Yet, the national program of ‘Learning in Regular Classroom’ – a form of inclusive education with Chinese characteristics – has been criticised for lacking sufficient system support. Under these circumstances, parents play a key role in support for their children with disabilities in regular schools in China. This study investigates the relationship between inclusive school quality and the well-being of parents of children with disabilities and the mediating effect of resilience on such a relationship. A sample of 310 Chinese parents of children with disabilities completed the Perception of Inclusive School Quality Scale, the Diener Well-being Scale, and the Davidson Resilience Inventory in the study. The results indicated that parents’ perceptions of inclusive school quality had a positive relationship with their subjective well-being, and resilience showed a partial mediating effect on that relationship. Implications are discussed.
El objetivo del presente capitulo es plantear un panorama que permite observar la realidad de los migrantes desde una comprensión familiar, no simplemente viéndola de manera individual si no contrario a ello relacional. Para esto se contextualizó estadísticamente el fenómeno y se propone como base de análisis la teoría general de los sistemas y cibernética de segundo orden, lo anterior utilizando un método de revisión documental para comprender problemáticas que van mucho más allá de variables económicas, sociales y políticas, y que si están estrechamente relacionadas con las crisis y situaciones problemáticas que presentan las familias y sus efectos en los subsistemas que la componen.
Forgiveness and reconciliation are important dimensions of human health
What are the characteristics of sibling relationships? What are the features of differential treatment of siblings. What are the patterns of family stress? How do traumatic life events influence family life? How do family conflicts affect family system? Is the family resilient to various adversities? What are the characteristics of forgiveness? Reconciliation?
Biblical verses dealing with forgiveness and reconciliation were examined from a contemporary viewpoint.
The relationship among women in a family is an important social issue. Is such a relationship described in the Bible? Was it warm or hostile? What was the background of these relationships? What were the dimensions of envy, jealousy and hatred? What are the implications of such relationships among women? Biblical verses relating to the relationship between women in different families were studied from a contemporary viewpoint.
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to examine longitudinal associations between being a sibling of a child with chronic illness and civic-mindedness in adulthood. Methods: Secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS) in 1983 and 2000. Multiple linear regression was used to examine adult civic-mindedness in healthy siblings of children with and without chronic illness (N = 1,051). Results: For healthy siblings, adult civic-mindedness was significantly associated with the age (older), higher family socioeconomic status (SES), being a good student and participating in extra-curricular activities. There was a positive association between family SES and adult civic-mindedness for siblings of healthy children, but this relationship was weaker for the siblings of children with chronic illness. SES significantly moderated the interaction between sibling status and adult civic-mindedness for siblings of healthy children (p < .001), but not for siblings of children with chronic illness. Conclusion: Research supports that certain advantages in childhood, including socioeconomic advantage, are related to civic-mindedness as an adult. Siblings of children with chronic illness may develop greater social maturity than healthy siblings of healthy children in low SES households, effectively making these children equally civic-minded in adulthood as siblings who come from high- SES households.
In relationships ‘I’ and ‘you’ become ‘we’; despite individual differences, couples obtain an interdependent identity due to their shared interactions. During a serious illness, biological and biographical disruptions can put any reciprocal relationship under strain. Through intermedial analysis of Judith Fox’s photographic project, I Still Do: Loving and Living with Alzheimer’s (2009), I will explore ways the couple make sense of illness, how illness is communicated through text and image and also to identify the limits of representation. Here the photographs, I argue, solidify their relationship and echo the stuck-in-the-present state of mind brought on by Alzheimer’s.
Raw case-by-case data from 70 published reports of various structural brain measurements of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and neurotypical age-matched controls was collected, quantified, normalized and combined within seven structural MRI dimensions (volumes of whole brain, callosum, amygdala and cerebellum, cortical gyrification and thickness, and white matter fractional anisotropy). Data from 3749 persons with ASD and 3828 neurotypicals revealed that the brain is significantly structurally atypical in ASD most often in early toddlerhood, occasionally in puberty, rarely in adulthood and that these conditions radically change over the life span. The ages at which anomalies peak and trough depend on the measurement, microstructural vs macrostructural, white versus gray matter, cortical vs subcortical, etc. A dominant aspect of the results is that there seem to exist three related phases of brain development in ASD, generalized overgrowth in early toddlerhood, overpruning or overcompensatory underdevelopment in early childhood or adolescence and normalization or slightly suboptimal stabilization in adolescence or adulthood.
Objectives: We constructed a model explaining families’ positive adaptation in chronic crisis situations such as the problematic behavior of elderly patients with dementia and attendant caregiving stress, based on the family resilience model. Our aim was to devise an adaptation model for families of elderly patients with dementia.
Method: A survey of problematic behavior in elderly patients with dementia, family stress, family resilience, and family adaptation was conducted with 292 consenting individuals. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Results: The communication process, family stress, and problematic behavior of elderly patients with dementia had direct and indirect effects on family adaptation, while belief system, organization pattern, and social support had indirect effects. Specifically, family stress and more severe problematic behavior by elderly patients with dementia negatively influenced family adaptation, while greater family resilience improved such adaptation.
Conclusion: Interventions aiming to enhance family resilience, based on the results of this study, are required to help families with positive adaptation. Such family programs might involve practical support such as education on the characteristics of elderly persons with dementia and coping methods for their problematic behavior; forming self-help groups for families; revitalizing communication within families; and activating communication channels with experts.
We apply a modification of the Family Resilience Model to explain variation in how families adapt to caregiving for adult members. Caregiving is a family risk involving both the ongoing demands of providing care and specific stressors that increase the potential for negative outcomes. Family protection, vulnerability, and adaptation occur through family adaptive systems that develop and regulate day-to-day family interaction patterns. Family resilience in caregiving involves an interface with proximal ecosystems (e.g., local health and social services) within the distal ecosystems (e.g., culture, healthcare and social service systems; policies regulating approaches and resources available to support care). Throughout the chapter and in a case study, we show how families engaged in caregiving for a member with dementia can show positive adaptation in individual family members, family subsystems, overall family systems, and family-proximal ecosystem fit.
As will be revealed later, this story has a happy ending; however, the first part of Djenne’s memory raises questions about what it takes for families to retain a sense of hope and to develop resiliency during difficult times and over time. In the previous chapter, we discussed approaches to creating positive and family-centered planning approaches and opportunities for advocacy and leadership that support parents of children with disabilities and promote collaboration.
The experience of loss due to the death of a family member constitutes an individual crisis as well as a family crisis, making the experience the most stressful life event that families face (McKenry & Price, 1994). All families will encounter the death of an immediate family member—a powerful experience that shakes the foundation of family life and leaves no member unaffected (Jordan, Kraus, & Ware, 1993; Walsh, 1998). It has long been known that certain individuals are much more competent than others in coping effectively with such situations. What about families? The death of a parent generally is considered to be one of the most stressful experiences that people encounter in the course of their lives (Shuchter & Zisook, 1993), one that calls on the family to utilize all its resources in order to adapt successfully and maintain normal family functioning.
Hypothesized that hardiness—commitment, control, and challenge—functions to decrease the effect of stressful life events to producing illness symptoms. 259 upper- and middle-level male managers (mean age 48 yrs) were administered a battery of tests (including Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, the Schedule of Life Events, and the Seriousness of Illness Survey) covering a 5-yr period. Results support the hypothesis by showing main effects on illness for both stressful life events and hardiness and an interaction effect for these independent variables. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The attempts to clarify (purify) the conceptual foundations of family therapy by means of “epistemology” have bred excitement, boredom, irritation and confusion. In the belief that at least the confusion can be alleviated, the present paper is offered as a study guide and something of a Rosetta Stone for translating the work of Gregory Bateson and Humberto R. Maturana. The paper demonstrates that Maturana's work is highly compatible with that of Bateson. In addition, several major points of contrast are argued: (1) Maturana's concept of structure determinism is an explicit ontological claim which directly implies an epistemology, whereas Bateson delineated an epistemology, but never clearly developed a corresponding ontology; (2) structure determinism is a more general concept than Bateson's concept of “mind” (i.e., cybernetic epistemology); (3) structure determinism deletes the remnants of objectivity from Bateson's theory (i.e., “the difference that makes a difference”); and (4) Maturana's concept of instructive interaction is a more general, nonsystemic version of what Bateson meant when he used the term “epistemological error.” Finally, it is claimed that the emphasis on epistemology has distracted proponents and detractors alike from the essential message of Bateson and Maturana: social systems and all human endeavor must be understood in light of our existence as biological entities that are coupled to a medium. The biological ontology implicit in Bateson's writings and explicitly delineated in Maturana's may (at long last) provide a sound foundation for the social and behavioral sciences.
Families in Disaster research has drawn heavily from the family stress and crises research paradigms and concepts advanced by Reuben Hill's ABC-X Model and by related research. This article attempts to broaden the perspective of family behavior in disaster situations by advancing additional concepts, definitions and propositions. Findings from longitudinal research on American families faced with the historically unique traumatic situation of having a husband/father held captive or unaccounted for in the Vietnam War were analyzed first in reference to the ABC-X Model, which suggested the need to expand this classic model. This article introduces the Double ABC-X Model in an effort to capture the dynamic nature of family response to stress over time. This expanded model includes: AA-the family's pile up of life events and stressors over time; BB-the family's resources which are strenghened or developed within and in transaction with the community and include coping and social support; CC-the family's perception of the stressor and related changes in the family; and XX-the additional end state of family adaptation following a crisis. This model merits careful consideration and additional testing in light of stress and disaster studies reviewed and propositions advanced during the past decade.
• Newer techniques for directly measuring social interaction in families permit more informative studies of the family's role in the course of chronic illness. We used laboratory techniques for measuring problem-solving strategies in family groups, supplemented by measures of the family's intelligence and accomplishments as well as its intactness, the latter indicated by measures of duration of marriage and the survival of grandparents. We studied 23 families, each containing an adult patient with end-stage renal disease who was being treated by center-based hemodialysis. In sharp contrast to expectations based on previous data, high scores on the problem-solving variables, as well as the measures of accomplishment and intactness, predicted early death rather than survival. Equally surprising was the finding that noncompliance accounted for most of the association between the family variables and survival.
Contents Introduction * The Family Stress Process: The Double ABCX Model of Adjustment and Adaptation * Critical Transitions Over the Family Life Span: Theory and Research * Family Stress as Community Frame * Family Problem Solving and Family Stress * Individual Coping Efforts and Family Studies: Conceptual and Methodological Issues * Social Support and Family Stress * Contribution of Personality Research to an Understanding of Stress and Aging * Family Divorce and Separation: Theory and Research * Mundane Extreme Environmental Stress in Family Stress Theories: The Case of Black Families in White America * Analytic Essay: Family Stress and Bereavement * Researching Family Stress * Reference Notes Included
The general problem of differential vulnerability of groups to apparently similar stress is addressed in a theory of family
vulnerability, based on the proposition that group cohesion may derive from either or both personal influence (which is necessarily cohesive and implies regenerative capacity but lack of stability) and positional
influence (which may be cohesive and/or coercive and implies efficiency and stability, but lack of regenerative capacity).
Taking these as separate variables, ideal types of families and hypotheses of their stress vulnerability are developed, and
briefly related to types of stress. Though discussion focuses specifically on family vulnerability, it appears relevant to
diverse areas of social and psychological research and theory.
It is proposed that a high degree of psychological father presence, when incongruent with reality and if persistent over time, is negatively related to family functionality. Data collected in 1975 from a representative sample of 47 families of servicemen missing-in-action (MIA) are presented. Correlational analysis reveals significant covariance between family functionality and psychological father presence, operating in a negative direction, as proposed, regarding expressive dimensions of psychological father presence, but in a positive direction when the family keeps the MIA father present for the instrumental reason of financial providing. Psychological father presence is established as a viable concept in regard to father absence.
Hill's ABCX family crisis framework has continued to serve as the foundation for the research and theory building efforts of the past decade of family stress investigations. Research conducted to date reveals a concerted effort to identify which families, under what conditions, with what resources, and involving what coping behaviors are better able to endure the hardships of family life. Four major domains of research are underscored: family response to non-normative events (e.g., wars, disasters, illness); family response to normative transitions over the life span (e.g., parenthood, retirement); the nature and importance of family psychological resources and perceptions; and the nature and importance of social support and coping in the management of stress. The future prospects for research and theory building in this important domain are discussed.
Some of the discrepancies between observations made of family behavior under stress and the family stress theory literature to date result from the tendency to emphasize adaptation to stress as an intrafamily process. Analysis of three studies of coping and adaptation in the face of family separations reveals that the family is called upon to both react and actively employ coping behaviors within the family system and in relationship to the community. The analysis reveals specific coping behaviors which vary according to the severity of the stress on the family unit and underscores the value of viewing coping behavior as an integral part of Hill's B Factor—Family Resources—in family stress theory. Five propositions are offered and discussed in the advancement of research and theory construction.
A conceptual framework is presented for understanding what is meant by “finding meaning.” It is proposed that individuals have life schemes that provide a sense of order and purpose in one's life. A life scheme is a cognitive representation of one's life, much like a story, which organizes one's perspectives on the world and oneself, goals one wishes to attain, and events that are relevant to those goals. Severely negative events can challenge parts of the life scheme, disrupting one's sense of order and/or purpose. Finding meaning is a process of changing the life scheme or one's perception of the event, so that feelings of order and purpose are restored. Ways in which meaning is found, the role of attributions in the search for meaning, and the effects of finding meaning on future victimization are discussed within the life scheme framework.
The author of this investigation focused on 72 two-parent families who had one or more children with cystic fibrosis living at home to determine what critical family factors are associated with the family's ability to comply with prescribed home treatment. Using the FAAR Model to conceptualize and operationalize the critical variables of demands, resources, family definition, and coping, it was possible to explain 51% of the observed variability in family compliance. These findings indicate the value of focusing on psychosocial family factors in the delivery of health care services and point to the need for further empirical studies for validation of the important role the family has in the health of its members.
Recently, there has been an increased interest in delineating the strategies by which families cope with stressful and challenging events and circumstances. This essay is an effort to explore the range and variety of such coping strategies. More important, it attempts to show how these strategies are related to one another and to more fundamental adaptive capacities of families; these capacities are manifest in the routines that are typical of the quiescent periods of the families' lives. The relationships we posit are shaped by a theory developing out of an extended series of laboratory and field studies in our center. Kuhn's concept of paradigm has been a helpful organizing metaphor for this theoretical work. It has led us to suspect that a family's adaptive capacities--both its everyday routines as well as its attempts to cope with unusual and stressful events--are shaped by its abiding conception of the social world in which it lives.
Although specific victimizations may differ, there appear to be common psychological responses across a wide variety of victims. It is proposed that victims' psychological distress is largely due to the shattering of basic assumptions held about themselves and their world. Three assumptions that change as a result of victimization are: 1) the belief in personal invulnerability; 2) the perception of the world as meaningful; and 3) the view of the self as positive. Coping with victimization is presented as a process that involves rebuilding one's assumptive world. Introductions to the papers that follow in this issue are incorporated into a discussion of specific coping strategies adopted by victims.
Among the many scientific investigations which have documented the long-term effects of the stresses of captivity upon the health and adjustment of returned prisoners of war, two interrelated, but unconfirmed, themes persist: (a) that the stresses of internment affect the parent-child relationship, and (b) that the detrimental effects of internment may be extended to another generation. The present study was initiated to determine the relationship between the stresses experienced by the parent during his captivity and the nature of his relationship with his children after release. This study focuses on data longitudinally collected on 42 families of returned prisoners of the Vietnam War and attempts to identify the combination of factors which may be used to explain the variability in the quality of the father-child relationship subsequent to the father's release from prison. The findings, which indicated a significant relationship between the stresses of captivity and the subsequent father-child relationship, are discussed in terms of their relevance to the Canadian studies of German concentration camp victims which have led to the evolution of theoretical constructs to explain the phenomenon of second generational effects.
Recent developments in family stress and coping research and a review of data and observations of families in a war-induced crisis situation led to an investigation of the relationship between a stressor and family outcomes. The study, based on the Double ABCX Model in which A (the stressor event) interacts with B (the family's crisis-meeting resources) which interacts with C (the family's interpretation of the event) which produces X (the crisis), was designed to study variables that discriminate between balanced and imbalanced family units faced with the chronic strain of raising a child with cerebral palsy. The 217 families responded to questionnaires about family life changes and parental coping. The balanced group revealed moderate scores on cohesion and adaptability subscales. This group was able to change their power structure, role relationships, and rules in response to stress. The imbalanced families were characterized by rigidity and chaos. The data partially support a multivariate and interactive approach to the study of differences between balanced and imbalanced families. (JAC)
A theory of mate selection and premarital behavior based upon partners' family myths is presented. Preliminary data from a research project which tested this theory is discussed along with hypotheses regarding the prognosis for couples who assume different postures in relation to their family myths.
provides a normative, preventive model [the Family Systems Health Model] for psychoeducation, assessment, and intervention with families facing chronic and life-threatening conditions / this model offers a more useful systemic view of healthy family adaptation to serious illness as a developmental process over time in relation to the complexities and diversity of contemporary family life, modern medicine, and existing flawed models of health-care delivery and access to care (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A review of clinical, experimental, and field research on stress, together with the author's own research, provides the background for a theory that emphasizes the importance of cognitive processes. Harvard Book List (edited) 1971 #370 (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Comments on the type of research being done on family systems and health, emphasizing the concept of enmeshed relationships (i.e., overinvolvement of family members with each other, overprotection, smothering). Methods for identifying patterns and characteristics in families are discussed. It is suggested that 3 broad categories can be identified for measurement when studying family systems: (1) data that identify the family unit characteristics, (2) data gathered by individuals outside family situations, and (3) data generated during family interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
in this chapter, a revision of the FAAR [family adjustment and adaptation response] model is introduced with two objectives in mind
first, there is an effort to revise and clarify concepts based on more recent empirical findings
second, there is an attempt to clarify further the linkages to physiologic, psychologic, and sociologic models of stress so as to render the model more salient for family medicine research
the "family" as one system in a heirarchy of systems (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In this study of the social, racial and religious backgrounds of family rituals and their functioning, the basic data were derived from published autobiographies, reminiscences, and interviews. Trends in family ritual during 1880-1946 are considered as well as the relationship of family ritual to family integration. The authors "conclude that the attitude of a person toward ritual is a fairly reliable index of his integration into his background." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A qualitative analysis of conjoint interviews with 10 male patients (aged 42–68 yrs) undergoing bypass surgery or angioplasty and their spouses (aged 40–61 yrs) revealed specific beliefs about the causes of heart disease and beliefs about what and who would aid recovery. In addition to poor lifestyle habits, strained relationships with adult children and work strain were identified as causes. The patients tended to change their beliefs more in the direction of their wives, leading to couple congruence or a shared definition of the situation. Variability in beliefs about who was responsible for outcomes was related to marital dynamics. Findings are discussed from the perspective of family-stress theory, particularly in terms of the meanings attributed to stressful life events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Presents a family stress model, the family adjustment and adaptation response (FAAR) model, and suggests conceptual links to other models of stress. The FAAR model focuses on 3 systems: the individual, the family, and the community. The family system and its efforts to maintain balanced functioning by using its capabilities (resources and coping behaviors) to meet its demands (stressors and strains) are emphasized. This effort to balance demands and capabilities is mediated by the meanings the family ascribes to events. Over time, families go through repeated cycles of adjustment (characterized by relative stability), crisis, and adaptation (characterized by discontinuous, 2nd-order change). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This paper summarizes the chief issues and findings in "family crisis research" as viewed by family sociologists. 5 areas are covered: (a) the conceptual framework used by family sociologists in their study of crises; (b) a catalogue of the stressful events that have been studied, as well as those that remain unstudied; (c) findings which indicate kinds of families which thrive and those that wilt under stress; (d) generic phases and methods of adjustment to stress; (e) assessment of short-run and long-run effects of stress on families. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the preceding data for agency policies and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This work has included both the conduct of numerous empirical investigations designed to disentangle the complexities of family functioning and a series of model-demonstration projects that have developed, field-tested, and validated different approaches for helping families identify and meet their needs in a way that strengthens family functioning. The material described in this book represents the aggregate of this research and clinical work. It is designed specifically for use by professionals working in the early intervention field, although the procedures have utility for other helping professionals.
This book was specifically written for early intervention practitioners who are being asked to work with families but who have not had extensive training in family systems assessment and intervention procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Proposes a theory of cognitive adaptation to threatening events. It is argued that the adjustment process centers around 3 themes: A search for meaning in the experience, an attempt to regain mastery over the event in particular and over life more generally, and an effort to restore self-esteem through self-enhancing evaluations. These themes are discussed with reference to cancer patients' coping efforts. It is maintained that successful adjustment depends, in a large part, on the ability to sustain and modify illusions that buffer not only against present threats but also against possible future setbacks. (84 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
There are at least 2 general paths to a feeling of control. In primary control, individuals enhance their rewards by influencing existing realities (e.g., other people, circumstances, symptoms, or behavior problems). In secondary control, individuals enhance their rewards by accommodating to existing realities and maximizing satisfaction or goodness of fit with things as they are. It is argued that American psychologists' exclusive focus on primary control reflects a cultural context in which primary control is heavily emphasized and highly valued. In Japan, by contrast, primary control has traditionally been less highly valued and less often anticipated, and secondary control has assumed a more central role in everyday life. Japanese and American perspectives and practices are contrasted in childrearing, socialization, religion and philosophy, work, and psychotherapy. These comparisons reveal some key benefits, and some costs, of both primary and secondary approaches to control. The comparisons suggest that an important goal, both for individuals and for cultures, is an optimally adaptive blend of primary and secondary control. (116 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A survey of 50 families indicated that integration and adaptability were significant variables. Three degrees of each were distinguished, making nine possible combinations; eight of these were actually used. No positive results were formulated, since the families used were not considered a representative sampling. The last chapter is a discussion of method, emphasizing analysis and induction from "subjective" reports. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The purpose of this study was to identify the major themes that 38 multigenerational families emphasized in their conversations about living with Alzheimer's disease. Interviews were conducted with families that were providing home care in the early stages of the disease. Family perceptions were analyzed with the aid of a computer content analysis program. Families emphasized four themes: (a) the awareness that something was “wrong”; (b) the uncertain nature of the diagnosis; (c) excluding a family member; and (d) the ambiguous nature of family life with Alzheimer's disease.
A new psychosocial intervention for families and patients experiencing the chronic phase of a disabling medical illness is described. The intervention, a short-term, highly structured, psychoeducationally oriented, multiple-family discussion group (MFDG), was developed within the context of a clinical research program and has been successfully applied to a heterogeneous range of disabling medical illnesses. This report includes a detailed description of the treatment model, the format and content of group meetings, and initial clinical impressions regarding MFDG efficacy.
This article explores the pattern of relationships between family World View and adult Health in a community-based sample of 225 families. Family World View refers to the beliefs, appraisals, and values that define a family's orientation to the world. The interrelationships among eight self-reported family World View variables are described, using principal components analyses (PCA) and multidimensional scaling analyses (MDS). Derived, joint-spouse World Views also are examined using inter-battery factor analysis. The World View variables then are analyzed as a set with 14 self-reported health variables for husbands and wives separately, using canonical correlation. The PCAs for family World View yielded poor solutions for both husbands and wives. The MDS displayed the eight variables in a circular pattern for husbands and for wives, indicating the absence of a single broad dimension, or subgroupings of separate dimensions, that could be used to "describe" the domain. In the canonical analyses, family World View was a strong correlate of Health, with approximately 50% of the variance accounted for by the respective canonical variates. For husbands, what we called Family Coherence, Family Religiousness, Family Life Engagement, and Family Optimism, were correlated with Health. For wives, Family Coherence, Family Religiousness, and Family Optimism, were correlated with Health. Different patterns of health scores emerged by gender, with behavioral indicators, such as Smoking and Drinking, more salient for husbands, and mood indicators, such as Anxiety and Depression, more salient for wives.
The health status of 48 families providing home care for their medically fragile children was studied. Mothers, as the primary caregivers, experienced a greater decline in their physical health than did fathers or siblings. When the financial burden of providing care was greater and when the relationship with care providers was more strained, families had more physical illness symptoms. Who provided home care services for the medically fragile child influenced the psychosocial impact on the family. Care provided by home health aides was associated with greater negative impact, whereas care from professional nurses reduced the negative impact. The trend toward home care for medically fragile children has been accelerating; this study points to the importance of studying the impact on the family of this kind of care. Policy implications regarding the amount and quality of services and payment for them are discussed.