Stress, Coping, and Health in Families Sense of Coherence and Resiliency

by Hamilton I. McCubbin; Elizabeth A. Thompson; Anne I. Thompson; Julie E. Fromer

• ISBN13: 9780761913979
• ISBN10: 0761913971
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-06-08
• Publisher: Sage Publications

Summary

Stress, Coping, and Health in Families: Sense of Coherence and Resiliency, the first volume in the new Resiliency in Families series, has an unusual sociological focus. Rather than focusing on pathology, the authors of this volume study individuals, families, and ethnic groups moving toward health. In Part I, scholar Aaron Antonovsky's landmark work in salutogenesis lays the foundation for a new approach to family studies. His work provides insight as to why some families manage life events with relative ease and recover from adversity with renewed strength, harmony, and purpose. Health is redefined, not as a static norm, but as a process of coping with a myriad of external stress factors. Part II examines how culture and family influence the creation and maintenance of the sense of coherence, which seems to be key in promoting health and well-being. It draws on studies of families facing serious illness, single parenthood, homelessness, or culture shock. The sense of coherence is also vital to the study of aging and immunology: Parts III and IV examine those links and their wide-ranging implications. This book will appeal to social workers, clinical practitioners, and scholars in ethnic studies, family studies, sociology, counseling, and psychology.

Table of Contents

Contributors
Series Preface: Families at Their Best
Preface
Acknowledgments
Overview and Theory
The Sense of Coherence: An Historical and Future Perspective	p. 3
The Structure and Properties of the Sense of Coherence Scale	p. 21
Ethnicity, Schema, and Coherence: Appraisal Processes for Families in Crisis	p. 41
Coherence and Families at Risk
Theoretical Linkages: Family Meanings and Sense of Coherence	p. 71
Sense of Coherence and the Stress-Illness Relationship Among Employees: A Prospective Study	p. 91
Sense of Coherence as a Predictor of Family Functioning and Child Problems: Preliminary Findings Among Homeless, Substance-Abusing Women With Children	p. 107
The Salutogenic Effect of an MBA Program: Sense of Coherence and the Academic Experience of U.S. and Foreign MBA Students	p. 125
Sense of Coherence in Adolescents With Cystic Fibrosis	p. 145
The Relationship Between Family Sense of Coherence and Family Quality of Life After Illness Diagnosis: Collective and Consensus Views	p. 169
Single Mothers of Children With Disabilities: The Role of Sense of Coherence in Managing Multiple Challenges	p. 189
Coherence and Aging
The Family Sense of Coherence and the Retirement Transition	p. 207
Salutogenesis, Successful Aging, and the Advancement of Theory on Family Caregiving	p. 227
The Correlates of Coherence in Caregivers to Demented and Nondemented Elderly in Belgium: An Interim Report	p. 249
Sense of Coherence and Survival in the Chronically Ill Elderly: A Five-Year Follow-Up	p. 265
Coherence and Immunology
The Role of Sense of Coherence in Mediating the Effects of Mental Imagery on Immune Function, Cancer Outcome, and Quality of Life	p. 279
Sense of Coherence, Health, and Immunoglobulin M Among Older Anglo-American and Japanese-American Women: An Exploratory Study	p. 293
Index	p. 307
About the Editors	p. 313
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