Adaptation refers to how the family reorganizes itself to handle stressors within the family or in the family's external environment.

Adaptive outcomes refer to the family system achieving balance that facilitates unity, growth, and development among family members.

“Approaches used by families to stabilize and maintain balance in the family system that promote individual growth and development and improve family functioning.”

The couple adaptation to traumatic stress (CATS) model is used to analyze the impact of traumatic experiences on individuals and couple relationships. The CATS model assumes that trauma will induce primary traumatic stress symptoms in the traumatized partner, which can trigger secondary symptoms in the other partner, which can then intensify the traumatized partner's primary symptoms. Adaptation to this traumatic stress in the couple depends upon individual functioning, predisposing factors, and couple functioning.

After deployment adaptive parenting toos (ADAPT) is a parent intervention program designed for military families. The program lasts 14 weeks with one session per week, during which parents practice and develop their parenting skills in an effort to create positive outcomes on their children's well-being.