Cumulative Loss, Current Stress, and the Family: A Pilot Investigation of Individual and Systemic Effects

Abstract

While many clinical approaches to family therapy emphasize the impact of past stressors and losses on family functioning, there has been little empirical support for this position. This pilot study of twenty-four families examined the relationship between stressors and all deaths over four generations in a family's history, and the current functioning of family members. Results were mixed, but provided some intriguing findings about the differential impact of loss histories on mothers and fathers, and some evidence for the multigenerational and systemic effects of the stress/loss history. Methodological problems are discussed, and suggestions for future research are made.