Family stress theory

Family stress theory is a concept in the study of human behavior that looks at how families handle stressful events. Some families handle stress well while others experience a crisis during stressful times. The family stress theory attempts to identify and study the variables that are factors in how families react to stress. Families that do not respond well to stress may experience such crises as domestic violence, child abuse, sexual abuse, and problems with drugs or alcohol.

Background

The family stress theory originated during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In many countries, including the United States, stock markets crashed and banks closed. People and companies lost most, if not all, of their financial resources. Many people were unemployed or had their pay and/or hours cut, and families struggled to have enough food and other necessities. In some cases, fathers went away to try to find work, or families moved to find a new start. Some families were homeless, and others crowded into small homes with two or three other families living together. As a result of the stressful circumstances, some of these families experienced crises such as abuse, domestic violence, or substance use disorder.

Other families, however, drew closer through these struggles. Sociologists began to develop theories about why some families experienced crises while others continued to function well. Among the first to look at this concept were American sociologists Robert Cooley Angell, Ruth Shonle Cavan, Katherine Howland Ranck, and Earl Lomon Koos. Each studied families affected by the Great Depression and offered theories on these effects between 1936 and 1946.

Another American sociologist, Reuben Hill, became interested in how families were affected when soldiers returned home from World War II (1939–1945). The prolonged separations these families endured and the physical and emotional stress that the soldiers experienced overseas had clear effects on many families in the years after the war. Hill studied the various ways families responded to these challenges and proposed several theories about these responses. As a result, he is considered the father of the family stress theory.

Overview

Hill proposed a theory that for families that experienced stress upon their veteran’s return, recovery would be like a roller coaster. The return prompted a crisis, which was the highest point of the roller coaster. The family then experienced a period of disorganization, which he likened to the drop from the high point. The family would move toward a new level of reorganization, where things would be changed but no longer in crisis. Some families would experience a steep angle of recovery while others would experience a more gradual rise. Some families would reach a level equal to what they experienced before, known as adaptation, while others would settle at a new level that might be better (bonadaptation) or worse (maladaptation) than where they were before the crisis.

Later, Hill developed a version of the theory he called the ABC-X model. While the roller coaster model looked at how families recovered from the crisis, the ABC-X model looked at how the circumstances in the family before the crisis affected the family’s recovery from the upheaval. Hill said the impact of a triggering event (A) was affected by the resources the family had available to deal with the crisis (B) and the way the family defined the event (C). These factors determined the likelihood the family would experience a crisis (X).

For example, a family with a mother, father, teenaged son, and grade-school-aged daughter have a strong relationship and own their home. The father loses his job (A—triggering event). The mother still has her job, the family has savings to draw on to replace some of the income, and the father qualifies for unemployment compensation (B—resources available). The family comes to see this as an opportunity to move closer to other relatives where jobs are more plentiful and homes are less expensive (C—family definition of event). According to the theory, this family is not likely to experience crisis because they have the necessary resources and view the event as an opportunity, not a disaster.

In contrast, another family that has no savings and unemployment compensation is not an option may not have the resources (B) to cope with the main earner’s job loss (A). This family may see sudden unemployment as a disastrous setback (C). According to the theory, the family is more likely to experience a crisis, such as a divorce or incidence of domestic abuse (X).

In the early 1980s, sociologists Hamilton I. McCubbin and Joan M. Patterson expanded on Hill’s theory to create the double ABC-X model. Their model accounted for additional life stressors and strains, such as illness, that made the original stresses harder to bear (aA); included additional resources that the family developed to deal with the crisis, such as selling belongings to raise money (bB); allowed for changes to the family’s view of the crisis, additional stressors, and newly available resources (cC); and the likelihood the family would reach a crisis state (xX).

Others have added to the family stress theory as well. In 1975, sociologist and social psychologist Jean Lipman-Blumen established criteria for determining the degree of a stressor. The criteria included the following:

• Did the stress originate inside or outside of the family?
• Does the stressor affect one member or all members of the family?
• Did the stressor occur suddenly or gradually?
• How intense is the source of stress?
• How much time does the family have to adjust to the stress?
• Was the stress unexpected or expected?
• Was the stress caused by something done by people or the result of an act of nature?
• Can the source of stress be fixed or removed?

These criteria are used by family therapists, social workers, and other professionals to help families avoid crises and cope with situations. The theories of family stress can also be useful in anticipating problems that could develop in situations such as natural disasters, and provide the tools to help families deal with the stressors before a crisis is created. Experts also use family stress theories to understand how historical events such as wars affect families. However, a review of studies conducted in the first decades of the twenty-first century found that the family stress theory was primarily used as a theoretical framework when practitioners measured stress variables among family members.

Bibliography

Casaburo, Gianna, et al. “A Systematic Review of Family Stress Theory in Mental Health Research (2010–2020).” Families in Society, vol. 104, no. 4, 2023, doi.org/10.1177/10443894231152511. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

“Children and the Great Depression.” Digital History, www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/active‗learning/explorations/children‗depression/depression‗children‗menu.cfm. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

Daneshpour, Manijeh. “Examining Family Stress: Theory and Research.” Quarterly of Clinical Psychology Studies, vol. 7, no. 28, fall 2017, pp. 1–7, doi.org/10.22054/JCPS.2017.8150. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

“Family Stress Model.” European Investment Fund, www.eif.org.uk/download.php?file=files/pdf/cg-rpc-2-2-family-stress-model.pdf. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

Heyl, Julia C. "What Is Family Stress Theory?" VeryWell Mind, 7 Dec. 2022, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-family-stress-theory-6831762. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

McCubbin, Hamilton J., and Charles R. Figley, editors. Stress and the Family: Coping with Normative Transitions, vol. 1, Psychology Press, 1983.

Rosino, Michael. “ABC-X Model of Family Stress and Coping.” The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Family Studies. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.

Smith, Suzanne R., et al. Exploring Family Theories. 5th ed., Oxford UP, 2022.

Sullivan, Katherine. “An Application of Family Stress Theory to Clinical Work with Military Families and Other Vulnerable Populations.” Clinical Social Work Journal, vol. 43, 2015, pp. 89–97, doi.org/10.1007/s10615-014-0500-7. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.