Deck 14: Family Stress, Crisis, and Resilience

Question 1

Sociologist Pauline Boss has this to say about family stress, "Perhaps the first thing to realize about stress is that it's not always a bad thing to have in families . . . Stress means __________."

A) competition
B) failure
C) overwhelming pressure
D) change

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT cited in the text as a type of stressor?

A) receiving a pay increase
B) ambiguous loss
C) ongoing family conflict
D) daily family hassles

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Trying to counsel and help a family who was living in New York on Sept. 11, 2001 and who still struggle with the resulting trauma illustrates which theoretical perspective?

A) family ecology
B) family systems
C) family development
D) conflict

Answer 3

A

Question 4

WWhich theoretical perspective views many causes of family stress as originating outside the family, such as in the family's neighborhood or workplace?

A) family systems
B) family ecology
C) family development
D) interactionist

Question 5

Which theoretical perspective views family crisis as threatening to the family's ability to perform essential functions for society?

A) structure-functional
B) conflict
C) family ecology
D) family development

Question 6

Which of the following is an example of a family transition?

A) an unpredictable crisis, like a hurricane
B) a family crisis, like the kidnapping of a child
C) an outside stressor, like war
D) an expected or predictable change in the course of family life, like the birth of a baby

Question 7

In general, stressors are less difficult to cope with when they are all EXCEPT which of the following?

A) expected
B) brief
C) unexpected
D) able to gradually improve over time

Question 8

This chapter opens with the statement, "Americans say they're ________."

A) happy
B) relaxed
C) stressed
D) unhappy

Question 9

Dealing with the experience of a family who is trying to adjust to sending the youngest child off to college illustrates which theoretical perspective?

A) interactionist
B) family systems
C) family development
D) conflict

Question 10

The text points out that adding a family member is stressful because doing so involves

A) intimacy.
B) family boundary changes.
C) an ambiguous loss.
D) demoralization.

Question 11

Which theoretical perspective analyzes family transitions and sees a family as changing in predictable ways over time?

A) family ecology
B) interactionist
C) family development
D) family systems

Question 12

When a family member becomes addicted to alcohol, the entire family system is affected. Which theoretical perspective views a family as such?

A) family ecology
B) family development
C) interactionist
D) family systems

Question 13

There is a lack of bereavement display and support rituals (including the omission of a funeral) for families who are suffering from __________.

A) occasional bouts of intense grief
B) the empty next
C) severe depression
D) perinatal loss

Question 14

The text points out that something must happen to cause family stress or to precipitate a family crisis. That something is what social scientists call a

A) precondition.
B) dysfunction.
C) structural threat.
D) stressor.

Question 15

Which theoretical perspective views families as shaping family traditions and family members' self-concepts and identities?

A) interactionist
B) family systems
C) conflict
D) family development

Question 16

Brenda and John have recently changed jobs, moved to a new neighborhood, and welcomed the birth of their third child. Using the definition provided in the text, it is safe to say that Brenda and John are experiencing

A) family stress.
B) the prelude to divorce.
C) family crisis.
D) conflict

Question 17

Which theoretical perspective views the family as a living thing, with each component influencing all of the others?

A) family development
B) interactionist
C) family systems
D) conflict

Question 18

The text's definition of crisis encompasses three interrelated ideas. Which of the following is NOT one of these?

A) Crises necessarily involve change.
B) A crisis is a turning point with the potential for positive effects, negative effects, or both.
C) A crisis is a time of relative instability.
D) Crises necessarily lead to catastrophe.

Question 19

According to the text's definition, which of the following is NOT an illustration of family stress?

A) financing children's education on a middle-class income
B) responding to the needs of an ailing parent
C) losing one's job and subsequent bankruptcy
D) illness of a family member

Question 20

According to the text's definition, which of the following is an illustration of family crisis?

A) paying tuition for a child's college education
B) deciding whether a loved one who is near death should be taken off life support
C) feeling that there is not enough time for various family activities
D) moving to a different neighborhood

Question 21

According to the text, negotiating family boundary changes is particularly difficult when the loss of a family member is

A) abrupt.
B) certain.
C) ambiguous.
D) unexpected.

Question 22

Some everyday family stressors are unique to low-income families. Which of the following is NOT one of these?

A) having a large family Christmas
B) arranging child care with limited resources
C) finding transportation
D) protecting children from neighborhood dangers

Question 23

The September 11, 2001, attack on the United States was an intense stressor due to the __________ nature of the event.

A) gradual
B) everyday and constant
C) sudden and demoralizing
D) transitional

Question 24

In military personnel who have served during wartime, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be __________, causing "family members to feel hurt, alienated, or discouraged, and then become angry or distant toward the partner."

A) ambiguous
B) a hassle
C) annoying
D) demoralizing

Question 25

Bill and Joanne have been married for ten years and have two children. Recently, a number of family-related problems have occurred, causing Bill and Joanne a great deal of difficulty. Their coping mechanisms seem to be largely ineffective under the strain of these problems. The text labels Bill and Joanne's situation as an illustration of

A) family transition.
B) family hassles.
C) boundary ambiguity.
D) stressor overload.

Question 26

From the __________ perspective, ambiguous loss is uniquely difficult to deal with because it creates boundary ambiguity in a family.

A) conflict
B) interactionist
C) family development
D) family systems

Question 27

Characteristically, stressor overload __________.

A) can be seen coming, as each stressor adds to the pile-up
B) creeps up on people without their realizing it
C) lasts only briefly
D) only affects certain family members

Question 28

In the face of a crisis, family members may be numbed by the new or sudden stress and, in a process of denial, go about their business as if the event had not occurred. Gradually, however, they begin to assimilate the reality of the crisis and to appraise the situation. Then, the text points out, the period of __________ sets in.

A) transition
B) ambiguity
C) disorganization
D) stress

Question 29

Scholars have investigated everyday stressors that are unique to certain professions. Which of the following type of family is "subjected to unique stressors, such as repeated relocations that often include international sites, frequent separations of service members from families, and subsequent reorganizations of family life during reunions?"

A) factory or blue-collar
B) military
C) business
D) upper-class wealthy

Question 30

The text identifies three distinct phases of family crisis. Which of the following is NOT one of these?

A) the event that causes the crisis
B) the period of disorganization that follows the crisis
C) the high point of the crisis
D) the reorganizing or recovery phase after the family reaches a low point.

Question 31

Ambiguous loss may occur when a family member is physically present but psychologically absent, as in all BUT which of the following cases?

A) alcoholic or mentally ill family members
B) learning disabled children
C) those suffering from Alzheimer's disease
D) children with cognitive impairment or severe disabilities

Question 32

Which of the following is NOT included in the text's discussion of daily family hassles?

A) balancing work against family demands
B) stressful work situation
C) death of a close relative
D) arranging child care or transportation

Question 33

The discussion in the text about high boundary ambiguity also included some more common situations. Which of the following is NOT one of the examples listed?

A) divorce
B) incarceration
C) military deployment
D) young adults leaving home

Question 34

In __________ there "is an imbalance between pressure and supports."

A) family stress
B) stressor overload
C) boundary ambiguity
D) a family crisis

Question 35

According to the text, job loss, unwanted pregnancy, poverty, homelessness, having one's child placed in foster care, juvenile delinquency or criminal prosecution, scandal, family violence, mental illness, alcoholism and drug abuse, suicide, and being the brunt of racist treatment are all examples of

A) demoralizing events.
B) daily family hassles.
C) ambiguous loss.
D) ongoing conflict.

Question 36

Which of the following is included in the examples of everyday family stressors?

A) being stuck in traffic on long commutes to work
B) death of a spouse
C) kidnapping
D) bankruptcy

Question 37

Sometimes everyday hassles pile up to result in what social scientists call __________.

A) a stress mess
B) the final straw
C) stressor overload
D) the crisis point

Question 38

The discussion in the text about high boundary ambiguity included catastrophic and unexpected situations. Which of the following is NOT one of the examples listed?

A) grandparent moving to a nursing home
B) war
C) natural disaster
D) kidnapping

Question 39

__________ "is simply pressure put on the family."

A) Family stress
B) Stressor overload
C) Boundary ambiguity
D) Family crisis

Question 40

After families reorganize following a crisis, the text cites three possible scenarios. Which of the following is NOT one of these?

A) The families may function at about the same level as before.
B) The families completely dissolve.
C) The families may have been so weakened by the crisis that they function only at a reduced level.
D) The families may have been stimulated by the crisis to reorganize in a way that makes them more effective.

Question 41

A study of alcoholic families found that adult children of alcoholics who came from families that __________ were less likely to become alcoholics themselves.

A) only drank on the weekends
B) had maintained family dinner and other rituals
C) did not drink in front of the children
D) went into counseling in later years

Question 42

In the ABC-X family crisis model, "B" is the

A) family's ability to cope with a crisis.
B) crisis.
C) family's appraisal of the stressor event.
D) stressor event.

Question 43

In the ABC-X family crisis model, "A" is the

A) stressor event.
B) family's ability to cope with a crisis.
C) family's appraisal of the stressor event.
D) crisis.

Question 44

During the period of disorganization, family members face the decision of whether to express or to smother any __________ they may have.

A) angry feelings
B) doubts about the marriage
C) confusion and despair
D) thoughts about change

Question 45

The text uses which of the following terms in referring to the low point of family disorganization?

A) apex
B) crescendo
C) nadir
D) fulcrum

Question 46

Withdrawing from friends and kin __________ a family's ability to meet a crisis.

A) weakens
B) helps
C) strengthens
D) contributes to

Question 47

Several factors influence how family members define a stressful situation. Which of the following is NOT one of these?

A) the sociobiological backgrounds of the members themselves
B) the nature of the stressor itself
C) the family's previous successful experience with event crises
D) the adult family members' legacies from their childhoods

Question 48

__________ has been diagnosed in 3 to 7 percent of U.S. school children, more often in boys than in girls.

A) Anxiety disorder
B) Asberger's
C) ADHD
D) Depression

Question 49

In the ABC-X family crisis model, "C" is the

A) family's ability to cope with a crisis.
B) crisis.
C) family's appraisal of the stressor event.
D) stressor event.

Question 50

Which of the following is NOT a sign of family disorganization?

A) habitual roles and routines become nebulous and confused
B) members carry out their responsibilities with less enthusiasm
C) family members may begin feel angry and resentful
D) everyone eats, cooks and goes to work like normal

Question 51

Which sociologist proposed the ABC-X family crisis model?

A) Carlfred Broderick
B) Hamilton McCubbin
C) Reuben Hill
D) Joan Patterson

Question 52

As one source of crisis-meeting skills, each family or family system has a level of resources, including bonds of trust, appreciation, and support, called __________.

A) exchanges
B) family harmony
C) warm fuzzies
D) family perks

Question 53

From the __________ theoretical perspective, the way that a family defines, appraises, or interprets a crisis-precipitating event can, at times, have as much or more to do with members' ability to cope as with the character of the event itself.

A) structure-function
B) conflict
C) family development
D) interactionist

Question 54

Some families do not recover from crisis intact, as today's __________ illustrates.

A) high suicide rate
B) high incidence of remarriage
C) crisis pregnancy rate
D) high divorce and separation rates

Question 55

In addition to caregivers in their twenties and thirties, an estimated __________ U.S. children under age 18 serve as caregiver to a family member.

A) 250,000
B) 500,000
C) 1 million
D) 1.5 million

Question 56

Family caregivers provide about __________ of all care for ill and disabled relatives.

A) 80 percent
B) 60 percent
C) 40 percent
D) 20 percent

Question 57

In the double ABC-X model, "A" becomes "Aa," or family

A) pileup.
B) stress.
C) frustration.
D) crisis.

Question 58

__________ includes not just the stressor but also previously existing family strains and future hardships induced by the stressor event.

A) Breaking point
B) Family stress
C) ABC-X
D) Pileup

Question 59

In the ABC-X family crisis model, "X" is the

A) family's ability to cope with a crisis.
B) crisis.
C) family's appraisal of the stressor event.
D) stressor event.

Question 60

The text categorizes a family's crisis-meeting resources into three types. Which of the following is NOT one of these?

A) personal/individual
B) family
C) administrative
D) community

Question 61

Resilient families rely on one another for support.

Question 62

The Bradford family copes very well with stress, emphasizing mutual acceptance, respect, and shared values. Given this information, the Bradford family can be characterized as

A) vulnerable.
B) crisis-oriented.
C) resilient.
D) creative.

Question 63

The likelihood of death in our society influences how we define a death in the family.

Question 64

We tend to think of crisis as synonymous with disaster.

Question 65

One example of crisis-meeting resources is found in __________, like the Americans with Disabilities Act, which parent groups helped to pass.

A) family dynamics
B) individual motivation
C) interpersonal weakness
D) community resources

Question 66

Only situations that we think of as bad are capable of creating stress in our families.

Question 67

Some families are vulnerable, and are more prone to poor adjustment from crisis-provoking events. Which of the following is NOT a quality of a vulnerable family?

A) emphasis on family routines or predictable time together
B) a lower sense of common purpose and a feeling of being out of control
C) diminished respect or understanding of one another.
D) less experience in shifting responsibilities among family members

Question 68

Families whose members choose to be __________ in roles and leadership meet crises creatively.

A) authoritarian
B) unyielding
C) flexible
D) rigid

Question 69

Families are more adaptable when

A) they are authoritarian.
B) they lack leadership.
C) conjugal power is fairly egalitarian.
D) no one is allowed to move into a position of leadership.

Question 70

Which of the following is NOT one of the factors mentioned in the text for meeting a crisis creatively?

A) a positive outlook
B) formal social support
C) community resources
D) adaptability

Question 71

Winning the lottery or getting a significant promotion can never be stressors.

Question 72

Family transitions involve unexpected or unpredictable changes in the course of family life.

Question 73

Family systems theorists point out that a family needs to know "who is in and who is outside the family."

Question 74

The typical American family is under a __________ level of stress at all times.

A) crisis
B) high
C) medium
D) low

Question 75

Estimates are that more than __________ children have parents who were behind bars.

A) 100,000
B) 250,000
C) 500,000
D) 2,000,00

Question 76

Once a crisis hits bottom, things often begin to improve.

Question 77

Family stress is a point of acute imbalance between pressure and supports.

Question 78

Believing from the start that a crisis is surmountable can make adjustment somewhat easier.

Question 79

Julie and John have a very close friend, David, whom they have known since childhood. Julie and John refer affectionately to David as "a member of the family." This illustrates the concept of __________ kin.

A) consanguineal
B) fictive
C) affinal
D) extended

Question 80

The term crisis comes from the Greek for

A) disaster.
B) catastrophe.
C) diatribe.
D) decision.