The hard ground that is drought induced presents some farm and agriculturally-related families with perceived or real stresses ranging from mild and inconvenient to severe and crisis causing. The same can be said when floods force families to stay afloat and not go under.
Some families are able to endure life's events with few adjustments.
And some fall prey to the situation and deteriorate. In part the answer lies within the family and its condition when the challenge occurs . One classification of conditions affecting family functioning is shown in Figure 1. A family that is thriving when a triggering event occurs or the situation changes is in a better position to respond than a family at risk or already in crisis. So the first defense against challenging life events is to be strong and stable, able to fully function.