Reliability and Validity of a Short Version of the General Functioning Subscale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device

• Author: Jennifer Hafekost,David Lawrence,Katrina L. Boterhoven de Haan,Michael G. Sawyer,Stephen R. Zubrick
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12113
• Published date: 01 March 2015
• Date: 01 March 2015

Reliability and Validity of a Short Version of the

General Functioning Subscale of the McMaster

Family Assessment Device

KATRINA L. BOTERHOVEN DE HAAN*

JENNIFER HAFEKOST*

DAVID LAWRENCE*

MICHAEL G. SAWYER

†

STEPHEN R. ZUBRICK*

The General Functioning 12-item subscale (GF12) of The McMaster Family Assessment

Device (FAD) has been validated as a single index measure to assess family functioning.

This study reports on the reliability and validity of using only the six positive items from

the General Functioning subscale (GF6+). Existing data from two Western Australian

studies, the Raine Study (RS) and the Western Australian Child Health Survey (WACHS),

was used to analyze the psychometric properties of the GF6+subscale. The results demon-

strated that the GF6+subscale had virtually equivalent psychometric properties and was

able to identify almost all of the same families who had healthy or unhealthy levels of func-

tioning as the full GF12 subscale. In consideration of the constraints faced by large-scale

population-based surveys, the findings of this study support the use of a GF6+subscale

from the FAD, as a quick and effective tool to assess the overall functioning of families.

Keywords: Family Assessment Device; McMaster Model; Family Functioning; General

Functioning; Bradburn Scale; Psychometrics

Fam Proc 54:116–123, 2015

Large-scale population-based surveys are challenged with capturing data on a wide

range of domains within the constraints of a fixed interview length (Kessler et al.,

2002). The choice of measures used in these surveys is often determined on the basis of

suitability, respondent and interviewer burden, and ease of administration, as well as the

psychometric properties of the measure (Kessler et al., 2003; Sharp & Frankel, 1983). In

a study where family functioning is the main focus of investigation, use of a detailed mea-

sure, such as the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD), may be appropriate

(Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983). In surveys where family functioning is not the main

focus, but provides important contextual information, a shorter instrument may be

desired. This has led to the more frequent use of the General Functioning (GF) subscale of

the FAD in population-based surveys rather than the longer, complete FAD (Byles, Byrne,

Boyle, & Offord, 1988). As a general principle, abbreviated versions of scales which

*Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.

†

Research and Evaluation Unit, Women’s and Children’s Health Network, Discipline of Paediatrics, University

of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Katrina Boterhoven de Haan, Telethon

Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, PO Box 855, West Perth, WA 6872, Australia. E-mail:

katrina.boterhoven@telethonkids.org.au.

Thanks to John Ainley for the helpful comments and advice on the manuscript.

116

Family Process, Vol. 54, No. 1, 2015 ©2014 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12113