The importation, transmission, and moderation of stress in the family system

Despite its importance in community psychology, the stress process is still viewed primarily as an individual-level phenomenon, little research being conducted on the dynamics of stress in a social system such as the family. Propositions derived from a model of family stress were tested using data from a cross-sectional survey of family triads (father, mother, and adolescent). Two measures of distress were related significantly to both macro-and microstressors, and perceived social support did not buffer this relationship. Stressors endogenous to the family were significantly associated with those exogenous to the family (stressor importation hypothesis); contrary to prediction, this relationship did not vary across family members or family types (high vs. low cohesion). Distress in some family members was significantly associated with stressors experienced by other family members (stress transmission hypothesis); this relationship did not vary across family types but did vary across family members to some extent in that stress was transmitted from adolescents to parents to a greater degree than vice versa.