Family stress, social support, violence, and sons' behavior

Although the low income, female-headed, inner-city family has been repeatedly linked to child behavior problems, the family processes related to child misbehavior in this high risk group have not been identified. In a group of predominantly African American inner-city low-income mothers who lived alone with their children, the relationships between family stress, social support, mothers' conflict resolution tactics, and sons' behavior were examined using the family stress adaptation model, and potential nursing interventions were identified. The sample of low-income, inner-city mother-alone families reported more family stress and less social support than normative White Anglo-Saxon Protestant families. Family violence rates did not differ between the sample and nationally representative normative groups. Thirty-nine percent of sons, referred to the study because of school difficulties, were reported to have behavior problems requiring additional assessment. Analysis confirmed the fit of sample data to the model and identified family stress as the best site for nursing intervention for these high-risk families.