Coping with stress in families with children who have mental retardation: an evaluation of the double ABCX model.

The Double ABCX model of family stress and coping was evaluated using path analysis to determine the causal ordering of variables in 86 families raising children with mental retardation. The families' use of resources (B) and their perception of the stressor event (C) were examined to determine their relation to the stressor (A) and the stress experiences (X). The causal ordering of the model suggested an ACBX relation rather than an ABCX relation. Results were discussed in terms of the consistency of these findings with two models of clinical intervention.