The Exosystem refers to the indirect environment that the child may not interact with but still influence the child's life. Such environments and people can include a parent's workplace or extended family members.

Maxine is getting the attention and assistance she needs to work on her social skills and communicate with others. Linda has been so occupied with Maxine's counseling sessions that she has been putting less energy into other aspects of her life, especially her own mental health care and performance at work. Linda's boss notices that Linda has been leaving work early a lot lately, taking multiple personal phone calls while at work, and failing to meet deadlines. Linda's boss finally gets fed up and fires Linda in the heat of the moment. Linda is utterly devastated and doesn't know how she is going to afford Maxine's bills from counseling. Linda was also unemployed 6 months before she found this last job, so she doesn't know how long it is going to be before she can find another one. In the week's following this incident, Linda falls into a deep depression and has trouble getting out of bed in the morning. She knows she needs to be there for Maxine and Tony, but she just can't find the energy. As a result, Maxine is frequently left unsupervised for hours at a time and Tony spends hours in his playpen.