Chapter 1: Families Coping With Change: A Conceptual Overview

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Disturbance in and pressure on the family system is referred to as ______.

A. change

B. stress

C. development

D. fluidity

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. The earliest studies of stress focused on how ______ was affected by stress.

A. social media interaction

B. emotional well-being

C. physiological functioning

D. social well-being

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Study of Family Stress and Change

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. The Johnson family has a ______ orientation because they believe they can solve any problem and control things that happen to them.

A. mastery

B. fatalistic

C. contextual

D. dominant

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Definition of the Event/Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Dr. Green studies stress by conceptualizing the family as a unit populated with living organisms that possess both symbolic and real structures. Dr. Green is using the ______ perspective.

A. social learning

B. psychosocial

C. developmental

D. ecological systems

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ecological/Systems Perspective

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. What group of people did Reuben Hill’s model of family stress, ABC-X model, develop from?

A. soldiers, veterans, and their families

B. survivors of natural disasters

C. survivors of terrorist bombings

D. families going through a divorce

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: ABC-X Model

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Ms. Landau lost her job, the third within 2 years. She feels hopeless and discouraged and decides that she is just not employable. This is an example of which dimension of family stressor events?

A. internal versus external

B. perceived insolvable versus perceived solvable

C. pervasive versus bounded

D. precipitate onset versus gradual onset

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Stressor Events

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. What kind of stressor is exemplified by the birth or death of a family member, retirement, or a child entering school for the first time?

A. normative

B. cyclical

C. unique

D. predictable

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Stressor Events

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. James was deployed to Iraq and was reported missing in action. His parents have recently decided to separate, his youngest sister has been truant for a significant portion of the school year, and in general, their lives are challenging. James being reported as missing in action is an example of a(n)______.

A. background stressor

B. clear-cut stressor

C. developmental stressor

D. ambiguous loss stressor

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Stressor Events

Difficulty Level: Hard

9. Which term refers to the internal attributes of the family unit that protect the family from the impact of stressors and facilitate family adaptation during family stress or crisis?

A. family system resources

B. ecological precedents

C. relative vulnerability

D. networking

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Resources

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Both cohesion and adaptability are examples of ______

A. couples’ adjustment to change

B. developmental resources

C. family system resources

D. microlevel resources

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Resources

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. According to Hansen, ______ refers to the difference in families’ physical and emotional responses to stressful stimuli.

A. cohesion

B. vulnerability

C. flexibility

D. adaptability

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Resources

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. What does research suggest is the most important component in determining an individual’s or family’s response to a stressor event?

A. the perception the family has of the event

B. the life stage the event occurs in

C. resources available during the event

D. the environmental context of the event

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Definition of the Event/Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. In the context of ______, a family’s response to a stressor event is influenced by living in a particular historical period, its cultural identification, the economic conditions of society, the genetic stamina and resistance of family members, and its stage in the family life cycle.

A. stage of the family life cycle theory

B. the ABC-X model

C. ecological/systems perspective

D. family interaction framework

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ecological/Systems Perspective

Difficulty Level: Hard

14. How do current theories of family stress compare to initial theories of family stress?

A. Neither set of theories apply to blended families.

B. Both initial and current theories ignore economic factors related to family stress.

C. Initial theories focused on dysfunctional families; current theories focus on individual dysfunction.

D. Initial theories focused on individual stress responses; current theories focus on whole family responses.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Conclusion

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. According to systems theory, ______ is not inherently bad, it merely describes a change in the family’s steady state.

A. equilibrium

B. stress

C. crisis

D. pressure

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Stress and Crisis

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. ______ is defined as a disturbance in the equilibrium that is overwhelming, a severe pressure, or a change that immobilizes the family.

A. Trauma

B. Stress

C. Crisis

D. Fatalism

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Stress and Crisis

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. Angela is scheduled to come home from serious abdominal surgery in a week. Although Harriet is very worried about her partner and about how she will manage once she is home, she sets out to find home health care support and meets with the nurse to learn how to care for the wound. What type of coping response is this?

A. controlling emotions generated by the stressor

B. direct action

C. intrapsychic coping

D. strength-focused coping

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Coping

Difficulty Level: Hard

18. John is on probation at work because he has been blowing up at customers when he perceives that they are pushing him around. He found that when he takes his pain medication left over from an old injury, the customers’ rudeness doesn’t bother him. As a result, he is much more relaxed at work and in fact was complimented on his patience. What is this an example of?

A. controlling emotions

B. taking direct action

C. reframing the problem

D. finding motivation

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Coping

Difficulty Level: Hard

19. Maladaptive forms of coping include substance abuse, violence, and ______.

A. joining the military

B. changing sex partners

C. divorcing

D. overworking

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Coping

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. The Smiths have always been protective over their children. They adhered to strict rules and schedules for all their children regardless of age. As Mica turned 15, she began to challenge rules (staying out later than she was allowed and arguing nonstop with her parents). The most difficult event that happened was that Mica lied to her parents about staying over at her best friend’s house and instead went to a party where she got drunk and was taken to the police station when the party was raided. The family began therapy, which resulted in the Smiths negotiating additional responsibilities and freedoms for Mica and learning new parenting skills for teens. This best reflects ______.

A. coping skills

B. understanding

C. adaptation

D. utilizing resources

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Adaptation

Difficulty Level: Hard

21. What does the double A factor refer to in the Double ABC-X model?

A. a stressor pileup in the family system

B. resolved aspects of the initial stressor event

C. changes and events that occur directly due to the initial stressor

D. perception of the stress or crisis

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adaptation

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. Currently, the field of family stress and crisis focuses on how family protective factors interact with risk and vulnerability. This focus is referred to as ______.

A. family strengths perspective

B. family systems theory

C. resiliency

D. circumflex perspective

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Resilience

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. A family can be called resilient when ______.

A. even with risk and vulnerability present, a family can mobilize its protective factors and adapt

B. even though families have strengths, they have more protective factors to face a crisis

C. each individual in the family has amazing individual strengths, but they are willing to use that strength to support the family unit

D. the family’s capacity to change is not hampered by the problems they face because they have a plan to return to precrisis functioning

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Resilience

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. Family roles are ______ than in the past, leading to fewer social norms and a lack of support.

A. increasingly static

B. more fluid

C. more conservative

D. more autonomous

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. In the late 17th century, Hooke used the word ______ in the context of physical science, although the usage was not common until the early 19th century.

A. hassle

B. resources

C. stress

D. crisis

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Study of Family Stress and Change

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. Stressor events are inherently damaging to a family system.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stressor Events

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Coping is an active process that promotes balance and facilitates growth and unity.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Coping

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Adaptation is a short-term response or modification by a family that changes the situation only momentarily.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Adaptation

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Resilience is only a quality of families, not individuals.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Resilience

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Examples of nonnormative events would include the birth of a baby, moving, or getting promoted.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Stressor Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Reuben Hill created the ABC-X model based on his work with women who had been sexually abused.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: ABC-X Model

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. “A” in the ABC-X model represents the stressor event.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: ABC-X Model

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Anything that alters some aspect of the system, such as the boundaries, structures, goals, processes, roles, or values, can produce stress.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stressor Events

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Lipman-Blumen describes family stressor events in terms of eight dimensions.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Stressor Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. An individual’s cognitive appraisal of life events may be the most important component in determining an individual’s or family’s response to a stressor event.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Definition of the Event/Perceptions

Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay

1. Define family stress.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. What do you see as the major changes that have taken place in the study of family stress, and why do you think these changes have occurred?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Compare and contrast the ABC-X model and the ecological approach to the study of family stress.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Ecological/Systems Perspective

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. How would you explain the difference between stress and crisis in the family systems model?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Stress and Crisis

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. What is the main idea of the ABC-X model?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: ABC-X Model

Difficulty Level: Medium