ABSTRACT
Families are caretaking, stress-buffering units, and siblings can participate in the caretaking functions of this central social unit (Bryant & DeMorris, in press). Caretaking means addressing the needs of others, and as such, families are stress-buffering units. Well-functioning families mitigate stress of family members in part because they define and address the stressful situations of their individuals as familial concerns rather than as individual concerns (Barbarin, 1983). Families do this because they define themselves as a cooperative unit.
