Development and Validation of a Two-Dimensional Scale to Measure Family Functions

Abstract

Background: Family has a great impact on the formation of people’s expectations and beliefs, and its role in the health, well-being, and promotion of various skills in children is very prominent. Objectives: The current study aimed at designing and constructing a valid and reliable scale to evaluate two aspects of family functions including problem-solving and communication skills. Methods: Based on the McMaster model, the family functions scale was developed and tested in the current study. By random clustering sampling, 706 high school students (285 male and 421 female) from Babolsar city that enrolled in the academic year 2017-2018 were selected as participants and they completed the scale. The data were analyzed with SPSS version 22 and AMOOS version 22 software. Factor analysis was performed by exploratory and confirmatory analyses. Results: The results of the exploratory factor analysis showed two dimensions (problem-solving and communication). These two dimensions explained 51.38% of the variance of the scale (the problem-solving function was 35.97% and the communication function was 15.41%). Also, the confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the two-dimensional structure of the scale (RMSEA = 0.046 and χ2/df = 2.517). The reliability of the problem-solving and communication dimensions by Cronbach’s alpha was 0.91 and 0.90; respectively, and by test-retest method was 0.86 and 0.88, respectively. Conclusions: The current study results showed that the scale could be used in studies related to the student community.