Abstract: Family is the last barrier for individuals to cope with external risks. The study of family resilience in risk society exerts tremendously significant impact on stable social development and effective individual response. As the core element of family resilience, family structure determines agglomeration and interaction of resources both inside and outside a family. So what kind of family structure is more conducive to resisting the pressure from external risks? Based on the in-depth interviews with 46 families plagued by prolonged illness, the primary structure of each type of family's resilience was summarized in this study. The findings demonstrate that family structure with high resilience is characterized by modes of core triangular relationship, the couple-community as well as mobility and collaboration, while a relatively independent mode of cooperation, the conflict mode in which conflict and alliance coexist and the cooperation mode of responsibility distribution are presented in the family structure with moderate resilience. As for the family structure with low resilience, loose or broken intergenerational disability patterns and loose or conflicting progeny disability patterns are obvious. The features of an effective mechanism of high-resistance families are as follows: favorable family relationship that promotes the recovery and reforming of family functioning, clear and precise parental negotiating status that guarantees the effectiveness of family interaction mode, as well as the flexible changes in the core triangle and the stem family that provide a variety of resilience models for families. What's more, the couple's core initiative plays a key role in functioning of advantageous resources in a family.

Key words: family structure, family resilience, genealogical analysis, resilience mode