Family Stress Management: A Contextual Approach (3rd Revised Edition)

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?

Providing a framework for students and professionals to help to learn how to help families manage their stress, author Pauline Boss continues to explore both the larger context surrounding families and stress emphasising the need for a more general contextual model of family stress which may be applicable to a wider diversity of people and stresses.

Review: "I am excited to introduce my graduate social work students to this significantly revised third edition of Family Stress Management. Grounded in the latest research literature and clearly written, this book offers its readers an integrative framework, the Contextual Model of Family Stress, that advances understanding of and practice with families facing adversity and positive challenges. Particularly noteworthy are the expanded discussions of multiculturalism, diversity, resilience, and community. Bravo and many thanks to Pauline Boss, Chalandra Bryant, and Jay Mancini for this third edition!" -- Gary L. Bowen

"The topic of stress and coping could not be more relevant and critical to families today, and this text is an informative guide that reviews how family stress theory has evolved, has been studied in the literature, and can be used to help all families face a variety of current stressor events." -- Angie Giordano

"Boss et al. are reflective, thorough, and human in their presentation of family stress management. This is an excellent text for undergraduate family stress courses seeking to introduce students to the expansive, and at times daunting, literature on family crisis." -- Lynette Nickleberry