ABSTRACT
This chapter describes model of coping strategies and the types of advice suggested and used by dual-earner couples caring for children and aging parents and it conceptualize coping strategies as helping to either increase resources or decrease demands. It reviews the coping literature and noted a lack of specific measures related to work-family coping strategies. The chapter presents a model of coping strategies composed of a total of six categories, three each—behavioral, emotional, and cognitive—within the two dimensions of increasing resources and decreasing demands. It describes the types of advice offered to their peers by the couples who participated in our study about how to cope and manage multiple work and family demands. The chapter offers specific quotes from participants to illustrate the various strategies. According to model, work-family coping strategies are of two general types: those that involve attempting to increase resources and those that involve trying to decrease demands.
