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The sixth edition of Families and Change: Coping With Stressful Events and Transitions presents current literature detailing families’ responses to varied transitions and stressful life events over the life span. Scholarly interest in family stress and the adjustment of families to change is not new. During the Progressive Era (1890–1920), the social and behavioral sciences took a specific interest in the social problems facing families as a result of industrialization and urbanization. The primary focus at that time was in social reform and the use of research to help in solving these problems. During the 1920s and 1930s, scholars began to explore the internal dynamics of families with particular emphasis on the well-being and personal adjustment of families and individuals. Researchers became interested in healthy lifestyles, mental health, and child development which led to the development of both family sociology and family therapy (Cole & Cole, 1993).

Two major societal disruptions—the Great Depression and World War II—prompted further attention on how families cope with unprecedented change. Angell (1936) and Cavan and Ranck (1938) identified various family characteristics that mediated the impact of the Depression—that is, family organization, integration, and adaptability. These findings remain largely unchallenged today (Boss, 1987). Hill (1949), in his study of wartime family separations, developed a framework for assessing family crisis—the ABC-X Model. This framework, with its emphasis on family resources and definitions that mediate the extent of the crisis response, serves today as the basis for most stress and coping theoretical models. The 1950s represented a focus on both the integrity of the American family as an institution and traditional family patterns. The social and political revolution of the 1960s, and the technological changes accompanying the greater industrialization, urbanization, and globalization of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s resulted in a proliferation of research on how families cope and adapt to the multitude of changes and challenges they encounter.

In the 26 years between the publication of the first and sixth editions (1994–2020) of Families and Change, our society has witnessed significant familial, social, and global changes. Today, families live in a context filled with stressors associated with time demands, the economy, political strife, global insecurity, and the rapid pace of technological change. From a financial standpoint, families currently face the potential of another economic recession, threats to pensions, investments, savings, and benefits, and the reality of financing extended longevity (e.g., retirement and health-care costs). Technology has advanced so extensively that it has become both a benefit (e.g., convenience, social connections) and an invasive demand. Life has become more impersonal as human connections are replaced by virtual relationships and family time is usurped by screens. Industrialization and urbanization have expanded, leading to denser living environments and the associated stressors of expensive housing, traffic congestion, and increased cost of living. Extended longevity is offering the benefit of more time with family members yet there are associated sacrifices that accompany living longer (e.g., chronic and degenerative illness, caregiving demands, health-care costs).

Based on multiple indications, the stress and change that families are experiencing appear to be intensifying. Stressors inherent to daily life include the discrimination families often face based on race, religious beliefs, gender, and sexual orientation as well as the unpredictable yet stressful events of ongoing natural disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, floods, and earthquakes. With the blurring of gender roles and the increased diversity in family structure, the basic conceptualization of “family” has evolved. Although the family system may still be viewed as a “haven” from external stressors, families are also challenged to meet their increasingly complicated needs.

It is evident that many academic and social service professionals are involved in developing knowledge, as well as teaching classes and offering outreach programs in areas that focus on the stressors confronting families. As the nature of family stress and the stressors that families encounter expands and evolves, the emphasis on how families cope continues to grow. Before the development of the first edition of Families and Change, Pat McKenry and Sharon Price (the original editors) conducted an extensive review of more than 400 randomly selected undergraduate and graduate college and university catalogs concluding that more than 60% of these institutions offered courses that dealt with family problems, stress, or change. These courses were found in a variety of departments and disciplines. They also surveyed instructors of those courses and discovered that texts representing a compilation of recent research findings in this area were almost nonexistent. As a result, the first edition of Families and Change (1994) was published to address this void. According to recent data from the National Council of Family Relations¹ (NCFR; 2019), there are 267 universities and colleges in the United States that offer degrees in family science. It is likely that most of these family science programs offer one or more courses related to family stress. Similarly, many psychology and social work programs also offer courses related to family stress. Since the first edition of Families and Change, this text has been regularly updated to address the various problems, stressors, and societal changes that Western families face. Each of the six editions of Families and Change have reflected contemporary issues and transitions taking place in the larger society as well as in families. This has been achieved by incorporating current research findings, introducing new chapter subjects, and adding new topics to selected chapters. For example, in this edition, there is updated research in every chapter and most chapters contain new substantive content (e.g., skipped generation families in Stress and Coping in Later Life, the emerging gig economy in Economic Stress and Families, and separation-instigated violence in Stress and Coping with Intimate Partner Violence). Additionally, we have introduced chapters on family stressors associated with race and ethnicity, and the value of family stress and intervention. Finally, a chapter in the fifth edition, which combined the topics of physical and mental health, has been divided into two chapters addressing how families manage the stressors associated with physical illness and mental health, respectively.

¹ Since 1938, the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) has been the premier professional association for understanding and strengthening families through interdisciplinary research, theory, and practice.

In the sixth edition of Families and Change, as with previous editions, not all family stressors could be reviewed because of page constraints. The topics chosen represent contemporary issues that many families face today and that have received considerable social, professional, and research attention. Each chapter presents an overview of our current understanding of selected family transitions and stressors, real-life scenarios meant to illustrate content specific stressors families face, and most include possible mechanisms of intervention. However, each author was afforded the opportunity to present their area of expertise in the manner they viewed as appropriate. At the end of each chapter, authors have provided a minimum of three discussion questions to support student reflection and class discussion.

The topics in this book represent both predictable and unpredictable problems and stressors. Predictable family problems would include those stressors that are inherently stressful even though they are foreseen. We take the position that all abrupt or disjunctive changes, although moderated or buffered by the family’s coping resources, are likely to be stress producing. Such predictable or normative changes include marriage, parenting, aging, death, and dying. Other problems are potentially more traumatic because they cannot be predicted—these would include community or intimate partner violence, physical illness, substance abuse, war, economic insecurity, and divorce. We take the position that many of these problems are interrelated and often combine to produce stress-related responses. For example, stress related to economic issues may lead to marital problems, including violence which may then initiate a cycle of divorce, personal and economic disorganization, and remarriage.

We also assume that family problems, change, and stress responses are not always “bad” for a family. The disequilibrium that develops requires a family to create new methods for handling problems. The encountering of stressful situations may result in new and creative solutions that are superior to those that were present when the problem occurred. This experience may enable a family to handle future crises in a more effective way, and therefore result in greater individual and group satisfaction with family life.

This text represents an integration of research, theory, and application, drawing on the interdisciplinary scholarship in each topic area. It is intended to serve as a basic or supplementary text for undergraduate and introductory graduate courses on family or social problems. This edition will also be useful to professionals who work in social work, education, counseling, and public health, who increasingly serve and support families confronting a multitude of problems.