Najman, Jonathan I., authorLucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisorMacPhee, Dave, committee memberFaw, Meara, committee member2024-05-272026-05-202024https://hdl.handle.net/10217/238397Family chaos is the cumulative exposure to disorienting environments (Fiese & Winter, 2010), and is associated with poor academic outcomes, health problems, and adjustment problems (e.g., Evans & Kim, 2013). Two distinguishable elements of family chaos are a) instability, or unpredictable events that disrupt continuity of the household, and b) disorganization, or enduring experiences that contribute to overwhelming disorder (Garrett-Peters et al., 2019). Although a relatively new distinction, it appears critical, in that instability is a stronger predictor of executive functioning than disorganization (Andrews et al., 2021). Our goal was to provide an investigation of this model to other key outcomes: stress reactivity and emotion regulation. A total of 153 adolescents (10-17yrs) completed the stress test and reported emotion regulation (Zeman et al., 2001; Garnefski et al., 2001). Family instability was significantly but weakly associated with disorganization, r = .16, r2 = .03, p < .05. Generalized Estimating Equations controlling for age, income, and race revealed that family instability, but not disorganization, significantly negatively predicted cortisol reactivity (b= -4.65, SE= 4.17, p<.05). The distinction of family chaos into instability and disorganization requires further research to elucidate the relationship between family chaos and poor developmental outcomes.born digitalmasters thesesengCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.disorganizationfamily chaosstress reactivityemotional regulationadolescenceinstabilityTextEmbargo expires: 05/20/2026.