Using the ABCX Model to Understand the Intersections of Culture, Disability, Adaptation, and Resilience Among Immigrant Families

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2026

Journal / Book Title

Journal of Counseling and Development

Abstract

In this qualitative study using reflexive thematic analysis, we interviewed 13 racial or ethnic minority immigrant caregivers raising a child with a developmental disability to understand how cultural values and acculturation shaped coping and family resilience. Themes were organized using Walsh's family resilience framework and clarified with post-crisis double ABCX process tags. Our analysis revealed three themes: (a) Culturally grounded meaning making, describing how caregivers navigated intra-community stigma and internalized marginalization through faith-based coping, caregiving commitment, heritage transmission, unity, and love and acceptance; (b) informal support ecologies, through which caregivers built trust and commonality through distributed caregiving and community-based supports; and (c) everyday self-regulation or co-regulation and routines, attending to how predictable routines, close bonds, and sibling involvement stabilized daily stress. We discuss implications for culturally responsive counseling practice, including assessment of belief systems, stigma-related silence, support mapping, and routine-based co-regulation strategies.

DOI

10.1002/jcad.70060

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