Using the Double ABC-X Model of Family Stress to Understand Parent-Adolescent Relationships, Stress Perception, and Family Functioning

Stress is a prevalent and concerning reality for families, and when stressors are long lasting or severe, they can lead to a crisis. The ABC-X Model of Family Stress proposes that experienced stressors lead to family outcomes of bonadaptivity, adaptivity, or maladaptivity (crisis) based on family resources and perceptions of the stressor. These two factors act as mediators of the impact of experienced stressors and affect how a family responds. Attachment Theory suggests the relationship between parents and adolescents can determine how both respond to one another under stress. Physiological theories suggest that stressors affect the mind and body in ways that lead to either poor responses or prosocial responses. The study aims were to test the ABC-X Model of Family Stress by 1) a double mediation of the relationship between experienced stressors and family functioning using the mediators of parent-adolescent relationship quality and stress perceptions, and 2) to test parent and adolescent relationship quality reports in a dyadic model with a Common Fate Model design. Using an archival secondary data set from the LONGSCAN study, these aims were tested on a sample of 769 families. Results of the model for hypothesis 1 showed that both mediation paths were significant, while the direct effect between experienced stressors and family functioning, while previously significant, was no longer significant when the mediators were added to the model, indicating mediation of both variables. Hypothesis 2 was also supported with results showing that parent and adolescent reports were both significant on the latent variable of relationship quality. These findings support the ABC-X Model of Family Stress and highlight how the family resource of parent-adolescent relationship quality is a significant factor in how families respond to stress. Clinical implications include family level interventions, especially those focused on improving attachment and relationship quality, and improving stress perception through physiological and neurological awareness.