Stress and Coping in Families

During difficult times, families can be our greatest resource, or our heaviest burden. This book brings together research from a wide variety of disciplines to examine family interaction in the context of stressful situations. Instead of claiming that one type of interaction is better than other, seemingly unproductive forms of communication, the approach taken by the author recognizes that messages can have varying, sometimes unexpected consequences when a family is distressed. In addition to introducing students, scholars, and practitioners to the stress and coping literatures from both the individual and family perspectives, the book offers an in-depth examination of how relational communication scholars have contributed to this important and rich body of research. The book also explores family stress and coping within three specific contexts (military family separation, breast cancer, the transition to parenthood) and provides readers with the opportunity to apply their knowledge through case studies and examples from families who have lived through these difficult situations.

Detailed Table of Contents List of Figures and Tables Preface Acknowledgements PART I FAMILY STRESS THEORY AND RESEARCH Chapter 1 Stress in the Mind and Body Chapter 2 Stress and the Family Chapter 3 Coping with Family Stress Chapter 4 Communication within the Stress and Coping Processes PART II FAMILY STRESS AND COPING IN CONTEXT Chapter 5 Stress and Coping during a Wartime Deployment Chapter 6 Stress and Coping during Catastrophic Illness Chapter 7 Stress and Coping during the Transition to Parenthood References Index