GERI LOBIONDO WOOD - THEORY OF FAMILY STRESS AND ADAPTATION
GERI LOBIONDO WOOD - THEORY OF FAMILY STRESS AND ADAPTATION
ABOUT THE THEORIST
Geri LoBiondo is the Director of Nursing Research & Evidence-Based Practice, MD Anderson Cancer Center. She has a PhD from New York University (1980-1985). She is the Associate Professor University of Texas, Health Science Center, School of Nursing, Houston, Texas.
ABOUT THE THEORY
Lobiondo-Wood’s Theory of Family Stress and Adaptation offers a framework for exploring the process of how families cope in response to crises within the context of time and environment. Its application in nursing research is expansive. The theory has been used in studying families with chronically ill children, families experiencing traumatic events, and families with members undergoing organ transplantation. It has also been applied to nontraditional families such as single-parent households (Lobiondo-Wood, 2008). This theory will be critiqued using Fawcett’s Criteria for Evaluation of Nursing Theories for significance, consistency, parsimony, testability, and adequacy (Fawcett, 2005).
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE THEORY
The Theory of Family Stress and Adaptation meets Fawcett’s criteria of significance by explicitly addressing metaparadigm concepts, philosophical claims, and the conceptual model from which this theory was derived. The authors also acknowledge adjunct disciplines when describing the theory, such as sociology and psychiatric social work.
The metaparadigm concepts and propositions addressed by this theory are explicitly stated and include all four elements of person, environment, health, and nursing. In this case, the family is viewed as the person. The environment is the setting in which the family lives, the family’s resources to temper the crises, and the stressors that they encounter. Health encompasses crisis and stressors when a family member’s health is impaired and the goal of restoring well-being. The nurse refers to the caring, support, and teaching provided to not only the ill family member, but also to all members of the family (Cody, 2013).
The philosophical basis of Lobiondo-Wood’s theory holds that the metaparadigm concept interacts over time and throughout the adaptation process. The family has reciprocal interactions with its environment before, during, and after a crisis. Such interaction will enhance or undermine coping strengths, perception and adaptation, which is consistent with Fawcett’s Reaction Worldview (Fawcett, 1993). Moreover, the theory is centered on the paradigm of human relationships, including internal and external factors related to not only environment, but person as well as social ties and resilience. The stressor, or source of stress, may come from within the family and be related to the structure of the family and roles of the family members or may be caused by the way the family’s crisis is viewed by society at large (Lobiondo-Wood, 2008).
Lobiondo-Wood’s Theory of Family Stress and Adaptation calls upon McCubbin and Patterson’s ABCX conceptual model where the ill family member represents the stressor “A”, “B” represents the resources available to the family, “C” represents the family’s perceptions of the situation, and the way in which they cope and adapt to the crisis is symbolized as “X” (Lobiondo-Wood, 2008). In both models, positive coping skills lead to bonadaption, represented as “bB; whereas, negative coping skills leads to maladaption, represented by “xX”.
The theory also calls upon the holistic, family-centered approach of nursing, incorporating not only the patient’s needs, but also the psychosocial needs of the patient’s family. In addition to the values and beliefs of nursing, the disciplines of psychology and sociology played a major role in the development of Lobiondo-Wood’s Theory of Family Stress & Adaptation (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983). Research and theories on the psychological impact of having an ill child and the social ties within and between families were analyzed in the formulation of the theory (Lobiondo-Wood, 2008). Ecological frameworks also shed light on the theory’s emphasis on the impact of the the relationship between an individual and family’s relationship with their environment during times of crisis.
The Theory of Family Stress and Adaptation meets Fawcett’s criteria of significance by explicitly addressing metaparadigm concepts, philosophical claims, and the conceptual model from which this theory was derived. The authors also acknowledge adjunct disciplines when describing the theory, such as sociology and psychiatric social work.
The metaparadigm concepts and propositions addressed by this theory are explicitly stated and include all four elements of person, environment, health, and nursing. In this case, the family is viewed as the person. The environment is the setting in which the family lives, the family’s resources to temper the crises, and the stressors that they encounter. Health encompasses crisis and stressors when a family member’s health is impaired and the goal of restoring well-being. The nurse refers to the caring, support, and teaching provided to not only the ill family member, but also to all members of the family (Cody, 2013).
The philosophical basis of Lobiondo-Wood’s theory holds that the metaparadigm concept interacts over time and throughout the adaptation process. The family has reciprocal interactions with its environment before, during, and after a crisis. Such interaction will enhance or undermine coping strengths, perception and adaptation, which is consistent with Fawcett’s Reaction Worldview (Fawcett, 1993). Moreover, the theory is centered on the paradigm of human relationships, including internal and external factors related to not only environment, but person as well as social ties and resilience. The stressor, or source of stress, may come from within the family and be related to the structure of the family and roles of the family members or may be caused by the way the family’s crisis is viewed by society at large (Lobiondo-Wood, 2008).
Lobiondo-Wood’s Theory of Family Stress and Adaptation calls upon McCubbin and Patterson’s ABCX conceptual model where the ill family member represents the stressor “A”, “B” represents the resources available to the family, “C” represents the family’s perceptions of the situation, and the way in which they cope and adapt to the crisis is symbolized as “X” (Lobiondo-Wood, 2008). In both models, positive coping skills lead to bonadaption, represented as “bB; whereas, negative coping skills leads to maladaption, represented by “xX”.
The theory also calls upon the holistic, family-centered approach of nursing, incorporating not only the patient’s needs, but also the psychosocial needs of the patient’s family. In addition to the values and beliefs of nursing, the disciplines of psychology and sociology played a major role in the development of Lobiondo-Wood’s Theory of Family Stress & Adaptation (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983). Research and theories on the psychological impact of having an ill child and the social ties within and between families were analyzed in the formulation of the theory (Lobiondo-Wood, 2008). Ecological frameworks also shed light on the theory’s emphasis on the impact of the the relationship between an individual and family’s relationship with their environment during times of crisis.
REFERENCES
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lobiondo-wood-geri-01093a21
http://www.nurses.info/nursing_theory_midrange_theories_geri_lobiondowood.htm
http://www.nurses.info/nursing_theory_midrange_theories_geri_lobiondowood.htm
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