The authors reexamine the theoretical literature in search of a better way of understanding stress and its management in families setting aside traditional positivist notions in favor of a family systems paradigm that allows them to view stress as a multifaceted phenomenon with multiple causes and coping strategies. Using a series of qualitative an.

This anthology includes classic and current writings from multi-disciplinary streams of work in family social science, social work, nursing, family sociology, family therapy, and family psychology.".

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

The Third Edition of Family Stress Management by Pauline Boss, Chalandra M. Bryant, and Jay A. Mancini continues its original commitment to recognize both the external and internal contexts in which distressed families find themselves. With its hallmark Contextual Model of Family Stress (CMFS), the Third Edition provides practitioners and researchers with a useful framework to understand and help distressed individuals, couples, and families. The example of a universal stressor—a death in the family—highlights cultural differences in ways of coping. Throughout, there is new emphasis on diversity and the nuances of family stress management—such as ambiguous loss—plus new discussions on family resilience and community as resources for support.

First published in 1983. This is Volume 1 of two in a collection of on stress and the family. The books view the family as both producing and reacting to stress and attempt to identify the sources of stress from either inside or outside the family microsystem. Further, the volumes distinguish between sudden, unpredictable, and overwhelming catastrophic stress and the more normal, gradual, and cumulative life stressors encountered over the life span. Moreover, the series brings into focus several rich perspectives which effectively integrate the hundreds of generalizations about the functional and dysfunctional methods family members use to cope with stress.

An informative anthology of recent theory and research developments pertinent to family stress.

Presents the vast literature that has emerged in recent years focusing on how families respond to various transitions and stressful life events.