Families are dynamic systems that are permeable to influences from the outside world, such as daily stressors at work and at school. Our research uses naturalistic methods to investigate how family interactions change in response to such experiences and how other family members contribute to that process. We argue that the short-term effects of daily stressors on family dynamics can have cumulative, long-term implications for family health and functioning. Naturalistic studies that incorporate daily diary, observational, and physiological measures can offer new insights into families' everyday stress responding and coping processes.
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LehmanB.J.RepettiR.L. (2007). (See References). The first study of school spillover effects that included daily diary reports from both children and parents.
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SaxbeD.E.RepettiR.L.NishinaA. (2008). (See References). A naturalistic study that uses cortisol as a physiological measure of stress to investigate couples' recovery from daily work stress in the home.
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StoryL.B.RepettiR.L. (2006). (See References). A daily diary study of work stress and marital behaviors that provides evidence for the mediating role of negative mood in work–family spillover.
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LehmanB.J.RepettiR.L. (2007). Bad days don't end when the school bell rings: The lingering effects of negative school events on children's mood, self-esteem, and perception of parent-child interaction. Social Development, 16, 596–618.
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RepettiR.L. (1992). Social withdrawal as a short-term coping response to daily stressors. InFriedmanH.S. (Ed.), Hostility, coping, and health (pp. 151–165). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
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RepettiR.L. (1994). Short-term and long-term processes linking job stressors to father-child interaction. Social Development, 3, 1–15.
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RepettiR.L. (1996). The effects of perceived daily social and academic failure experiences on school-age children's subsequent interactions with parents. Child Development, 67, 1467–1482.
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RepettiR.L.SaxbeD.E. (2009). The effects of job stress on the family: One size does not fit all. InCraneD.R.HillE.J. (Eds.), Handbook of families and work: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 62–78). Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
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RepettiR.L.WoodJ. (1997a). Effects of daily stress at work on mothers' interactions with preschoolers. Journal of Family Psychology, 11, 90–108.
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RepettiR.L.WoodJ. (1997b). Families accommodating to chronic stress: Unintended and unnoticed processes. InGottliebB.H. (Ed.), Coping with chronic stress (pp. 191–220). New York: Plenum.
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SaxbeD.E.RepettiR.L.(in press). For better or worse? Coregulation of couples' cortisol levels and mood states. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
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SaxbeD.E.RepettiR.L.NishinaA. (2008). Marital satisfaction, recovery from work, and diurnal cortisol among men and women. Health Psychology, 27, 15–25.
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SchoebiD. (2008). The coregulation of daily affect in marital relationships. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 595–604.
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StoryL.B.RepettiR.L. (2006). Daily occupational stressors and marital behavior. Journal of Family Psychology, 20, 690–700.
