The Application of ideas of Family Stress Theory in Foreign Research

Abstract

The relevance of applying family stress theory in research practice is a consequence of increasingly varied stressful events occurring in the context of the evolution and transformation of such institutions as marriage and parenthood, as well as the unpredictable events taking place in the world. The main purpose of the review is to identify those subject areas of family sociology where the concepts of family stress theory (stressor, stress, crisis, resources, event perception, and strategies for coping with a stressful situation) are most often used or where empirical results are interpreted using this theory. Analysis was based on articles published in leading journals over the last decade: the Journal of Marriage and Family, the Journal of Family Issues, the Journal of Comparative Family Studies, as well as in open sources. Such papers were selected that contained the results of quantitative research and of using qualitative methods such as interviews with family members. Two main directions were identified. The first is the impact of pandemic–related stressors on families. The second is the stresses experienced by members of cross-border families and strategies for coping with stressful situations at the individual and family level. A large number of research articles on cross-border families are a result of the topic being relevant in many countries, on both the sending and receiving end. In turn, there is the possibility that cross-border families are more likely than others (depending on the criterion of typology) to be subject to various kinds of stressors. It is shown that in different countries, social groups and families the results of coping with the stressful events associated with the pandemic were both positive and negative. In some families the mental health of children and adolescents declined during the pandemic, there was a marked increase in parental stress, marital conflicts, frequency of alcohol consumption and domestic violence. The positive consequences of isolation for other families included an increase in the duration of family communication, accelerated development of new technologies in the household sphere, optimization of household financial management, a more equitable distribution of family roles. For example, more fathers became involved in child care and classes with schoolchildren, in helping their wives with household chores. Even studies conducted during the 20th century showed that husbands and fathers become active as soon as difficult situations arise and are removed from family responsibilities when there is no more urgent need for their participation, something that was once again confirmed by the whole pandemic situation. The analysis allowed identifying the main strategies transnational families use to cope with the stress of separation from family members. You see men and women changing their roles, generally accepted expectations about maternal/paternal roles, creating new families in the host country through cohabitation or marriage, mastering remote skills of coordinating services at home for the care of the elderly and/or children. These two main areas of application of family stress theory do not exclude others. Such as— families where one of the members is disabled, suffers from various kinds of addictions (alcoholism, workaholism, drug addiction, gambling addiction), adult children have changed their gender, a family member has learned about a partner’s infidelity, families in various difficult economic situations (salary cut, job loss), etc. One of the more promising areas of this theory’s application is the study of the increasingly more common family structures of two types in which family members are permanently in a stressful situation. The first is “apart– together” (Living Apart Together– LAT), when one of the spouses works/studies in another city or country, is serving a sentence, is serving in the army, etc., or the second is “together– apart” (Living Apart– LTA), when spouses or adult children/parents are forced to live in the same household. One practical way of applying the theory is obtaining information about constructive and destructive strategies for coping with stress in various types of families and life situations. At both the individual and family levels it is important to form the correct perception of stress and the use of resources, to promote resilience and flexibility for the successful adaptation of families in a changing social context.