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      Psychometric properties and validation of the Italian version of the Family Assessment Measure Third Edition – Short Version – in a nonclinical sample

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          Abstract

          Background

          Family functioning plays an important role in developing and maintaining dysfunctional behaviors, especially during adolescence. The lack of indicators of family functioning, as determinants of personal and interpersonal problems, represents an obstacle to the activities aimed at developing preventive and intervention strategies. The Process Model of Family Functioning provides a conceptual framework organizing and integrating various concepts into a comprehensive family assessment; this model underlines that through the process of task accomplishment, each family meets objectives central to its life as a group. The Family Assessment Measure Third Edition (FAM III), based on the Process Model of Family Functioning, is among the most frequently used self-report instruments to measure family functioning.

          Materials and methods

          The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Family Assessment Measure Third Edition – Short Version (Brief FAM-III). It consists of three modules: General Scale, which evaluates the family as a system; Dyadic Relationships Scale, which examines how each family member perceives his/her relationship with another member; and Self-Rating Scale, which indicates how each family member is perceived within the nucleus. The developed Brief FAM-III together with the Family Assessment Device were administered to 484 subjects, members of 162 Italian families, formed of 162 fathers aged between 35 and 73 years; 162 mothers aged between 34 and 69 years; and 160 children aged between 12 and 35 years. Correlation, paired-sample t-test, and reliability analyses were carried out.

          Results

          General item analysis shows good indices of reliability with Cronbach’s α coefficients equal to 0.96. The Brief FAM-III has satisfactory internal consistency, with Cronbach’s α equal to 0.90 for General Scale, 0.94 for Dyadic Relationships Scale, and 0.88 for the Self-Rating Scale.

          Conclusion

          The Brief FAM-III can be a psychometrically reliable and valid measure for the assessment of family strengths and weaknesses within Italian contexts. The instrument can be used to obtain an overall idea of family functioning, for the purposes of preliminary screening, and for monitoring family functioning over time or during treatment.

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          Most cited references40

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          A factor analysis of self-report measures of family functioning.

          Four well-known, self-report measures of family functioning were serially examined in order to identify a limited set of reliable concepts for describing families. Following the completion of four separate data collection procedures, a 75-item scale comprising 15 dimensions of family functioning was constructed. The dimensions appear reasonably independent of each other and have satisfactory psychometric properties. An initial effort to validate the scales was undertaken by contrasting scale scores obtained from descriptions of intact families with those obtained from descriptions of families that subsequently were disrupted by separation and divorce. Significant differences in scale scores were obtained on 12 of the 15 dimensions of family functioning. The 15 dimensions of family functioning could be subsumed under the three general headings suggested by Moos, Insel, and Humphrey (14)--relationship dimensions, personal growth or value dimensions, and system maintenance dimensions.
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            Neighborhood structure, parenting processes, and the development of youths' externalizing behaviors: a multilevel analysis.

            Associations among neighborhood structure, parenting processes, and the development of externalizing behavior problems were investigated in a longitudinal sample of early adolescents (from age 11 to 13). Mothers' reports of parental monitoring (at age 11), mothers' and youths' reports of the amount of youths' unsupervised time (at age 11), and youths' reports of positive parental involvement (at age 12) were used to predict initial levels (at age 11) and growth rates in youths' externalizing behavior as reported by teachers. Census-based measures of neighborhood structural disadvantage, residential instability, and concentrated affluence were expected to moderate the effects of parenting processes (e.g., parental monitoring) on externalizing behavior. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that less parental monitoring was associated with more externalizing behavior problems at age 11, and more unsupervised time spent out in the community (vs. unsupervised time in any context) and less positive parental involvement were associated with increases in externalizing behavior across time. Furthermore, the decrease in externalizing levels associated with more parental monitoring was significantly more pronounced when youths lived in neighborhoods with more residential instability.
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              Review of Family Functioning

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Psychol Res Behav Manag
                Psychol Res Behav Manag
                Psychology Research and Behavior Management
                Psychology Research and Behavior Management
                Dove Medical Press
                1179-1578
                2017
                28 February 2017
                : 10
                : 69-77
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, “Kore” University of Enna, Enna
                [2 ]Department of Humanities Studies, “Federico II” University of Naples, Napoli, Italy
                Author notes
                Correspondence: Monica Pellerone, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, “Kore” University of Enna, Via Cittadella Universitaria, snc, Enna (EN), Sicily 94100, Italy, Tel +39 329 432 4311, Email monica.pellerone@ 123456unikore.it
                Article
                prbm-10-069
                10.2147/PRBM.S128313
                5338927
                28280402
                b70e8de8-c961-4e5d-8ef1-4487fda48489
                © 2017 Pellerone et al. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited

                The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed.

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                Categories
                Original Research

                Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry
                family assessment,psychometric properties,italian validation,family strengths,family weaknesses

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