In the Double ABCX Model, family stress is defined as an imbalance in demands (the A factor: stressor event, related hardships, prior strains), and capabilities or resources (the B factor). The family's definition (C factor) of the imbalance influences its impact. When the family is unable to balance demands and capabilities without making a change in its structure and interaction patterns, a crisis (X) occurs. The Double ABCX Model as a theory of family stress presents some problems: unclear definitions of concepts; a structural, static model; and the fact that the theory is actually not a theory, but a scale model. These conceptual and theoretical weaknesses limit the usefulness of this model. Potential solutions to some of these problems can be found in a transactional paradigm which represents human behavior as a relational process between the person and the environment, and which captures the dynamic process of response to stress. Family paradigms as regulators of family-environment transactions, stages of the coping process, and variables affecting coping are promising areas of study. (NRB)