Psychometric properties of the FACES IV package for Spanish adolescents

The family plays an essential role in the life of an adolescent. Hence, an acceptable understanding and an evaluation of family functioning is fundamental for effective interventions with adolescents in the psychological, social, and educational fields. The main purpose of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES IV), the Family Communication Scale (FCS), and the Family Satisfaction Scale (FSS), for assessing the family functioning of Spanish adolescents. The sample was comprised of 1187 adolescents between 14 ?18 years old (49.96% boys and 50.04% girls; M = 16.17; SD = 1.31) from Castile and Leon (Spain), selected from 23 educational centers, 10 university degree courses, and 18 specific juvenile centers for adolescents with either family or behavioral problems. The scales of Balanced Cohesion, Balanced Flexibility and Disengaged showed good convergent validity, while Enmeshed, Rigid, and Chaotic did not. For this reason some items were removed, obtaining a shortened version of FACES IV, that demonstrated acceptable reliability, and good convergent and predictive validity. The FCS and FSS scales yielded excellent psychometric properties. The results confirmed the factorial structure of the FACES IV, its transcultural applicability, and its validity for different ages. The hypotheses of the circumplex model were confirmed, except for the dysfunctionality of two scales, Enmeshed and Rigid, that contrary to what was expected, showed positive correlations with Family Communication, Family Satisfaction, Balanced Cohesion, and Balanced Flexibility. In brief, our results present the FACES IV package as a useful instrument for the assessment of family functioning of Spanish adolescents. Future studies will be necessary to confirm the trend observed for the two aforementioned scales among adolescents. (AU)

Prácticas de crianza y comunicación familiar: una estrategia para la socialización primaria / Parenting and family communication practices: a strategy for primary socialization

La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo principal identificar cómo la comunicación familiar y las prácticas de crianza influyen en la socialización de los niños. Para el desarrollo de la indagación se tuvieron en cuenta tres categorías: prácticas de crianza, comunicación familiar y socialización primaria, las cuales se describen a lo largo del artículo. La metodología que se utilizó fue la investigación cualitativa, desde un enfoque metodológico hermenéutico y con la modalidad del estado del arte, lo que permitió hacer un rastreo relevante de bibliografía relacionada con el tema a tratar. Finalmente, los resultados dan cuenta de la relación que tiene la práctica parental y la comunicación familiar expresadas en un hogar, sobre la manera en la que empieza a relacionarse el niño en su entorno.

In this research, the main objective was to identify how family communication and raising practices influence children's socialization. The development of the inquiry took into account three categories: parenting, family communication, and primary socialization, practices which will be described throughout the article. The methodology used was qualitative research, from a hermeneutic methodological approach and State of the art method, which allowed to make a relevant trace of literature related to the subject. Finally, the results state the relationship between parental practice and family communication expressed in a home, about the way in which the child begins to relate the with their environment.

Factores predictores de la violencia relacional en la adolescencia / Predictive factors of relational violence in adolescence

El objetivo del presente trabajo fue examinar la violencia relacional entre iguales desde una perspectiva psicosocial, analizando variables familiares (funcionamiento y comunicación familiar), sociales (reputación social - percibida e ideal - y actitud hacia la autoridad institucional) e individuales (malestar psicológico e ideación suicida) en adolescentes escolarizados. La muestra fue de 8115 adolescentes, con edades comprendidas entre los 11 y los 16 años, del estado de Nuevo León, México. Se realizó un análisis de regresión lineal múltiple, paso a paso, cuyos resultados mostraron que la dimensión más importante en la predicción de la conducta violenta relacional es la autopercepción no conformista, seguido del malestar psicológico. Finalmente, se discuten estos resultados y sus implicaciones.

The aim of this research was to study relational violence between peers from a psychosocial perspective, by analyzing family variables (family functioning and communication), social variables (social reputation ­both perceived and ideal­ and attitude towards institutional authority), and individual variables (psychological distress and suicide ideation) in adolescent students. The sample consisted of 8,115 adolescents aged 11 to 16 years from the State of Nuevo León, Mexico. We performed a forward stepwise multiple regression analysis, the results of which showed that the most important factor in the prediction of violent relational behavior at school is the nonconformist self-perception, followed by psychological distress. Finally, these results and their implications are discussed.

Influence of Family Communication and Family Function to their Body Mass Index among Medical Students / 의료커뮤니케이션

BACKGROUND: Association between obesity and family communication was a controversial issue in previous studies. Previous studies were done on adolescents and adults in overall. This study was done to figure out association between obesity of medical school students specifically and their family function including communication and to help them on the treatment of obese patients.METHODS: A self-reported questionnaire was filled in by 97 medical school students in Busan. They were asked to answer forty different questions including their height and weight. Association between BMI and family communication was studied using FACE III, Family APGAR and KOBES.RESULTS: Among 97 correspondents, 30 of them were found to be overweight to obese. There was a significant difference in number of siblings, amount of food intake, meal time and recent weight reduction trial among overweight-obese group and normal group. The mean Family APGAR score of normal group was higher than overweight-obese group. Flexibility and connectivity score in FACE III of normal group was also higher than overweight-obese group. Among all the factors considered, recent weight reduction trial was the only factor that was statistically significant in accordance with normal weight.CONCLUSION: There was significant relation between flexibility and connectivity of family function with overweight and obesity. In order to investigate further relation and significance on separate gender, larger study samples are needed. Future studies are suggested regarding gender differences on relationship between overweight-obesity and family function in medical school students.

Comunicación en familias que acompañan a pacientes en la clínica psiquiátrica "Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón" (Medellín-Colombia) / Communication in families that accompany to patiens in the Psychiatry Clinic "Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón" (Medellín-Colombia)

Resumen Este artículo se propuso interpretar la comunicación de familias de pacientes vinculados a intervenciones grupales en una Clínica Psiquiátrica de Medellín (Colombia). Se utilizó el enfoque cualitativo y se desarrolló a partir de las propiedades vinculadas a la dimensión de comunicación familiar. Este estilo de investigación se mantiene en la tradición hermenéutica, que siguiendo a Galeano (2004) da prioridad a los relatos de los participantes para captar las interpretaciones que ellos hacen de sus propias realidades. Los resultados sugieren que la comunicación en el acompañamiento familiar a pacientes se sostienen en tres dimensiones: "La paradoja comunicativa", "Otras alternativas de comunicación" y "Los tiempos narrativos referidos a la enfermedad mental". Se concluye que los síntomas del paciente involucran a la familia como sistema y éstos fueron construcciones intersubjetivas.

Abstract The aim of this study was to understand the communication in families of patients participating in group interventions in a Psychiatric Clinic of Medellin (Colombia). This was a qualitative research, and we carried it out according to the family communication construct. Results suggest that communication in family support towards patients have three dimensions: "Communicational paradox", "Other communication alternatives" and "Narrative times about mental illness". We concluded that the symptoms presented by the patient involve the family as a system and these were subjective constructions.

Propiedades psicométricas de la Escala de Comunicación Familiar en estudiantes universitarios / Psychometric Properties of the Family Communication Scale in College Students

Resumen: El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar las propiedades psicométricas de la Escala de Comunicación Familiar (FCS) en una muestra de 491 estudiantes de una universidad privada en Lima Metropolitana, cuyas edades oscilan entre 16 y 28 años (M = 20.31, DE = 3.08). La muestra se dividió en dos grupos proporcionales. En el primero se realizó un análisis factorial exploratorio, χ² (45) = 966.8, p < .001, n = 246, para comparar los índices de bondad de ajuste en modelos de uno, dos y tres factores y encontrar un mejor ajuste en una solución unifactorial GFI = .99, RMCR = .06. Posteriormente, en el segundo grupo, se llevó a cabo el análisis factorial confirmatorio al comparar soluciones de uno, dos y tres factores. Se evidenció un mejor ajuste en un modelo de una dimensión χ² = 80.31; χ²/gl = 2.36; CFI = 1.00; GFI = .995; AGFI = .992; RMSEA = .000; RMR = .050 (n = 245). Se analizaron los errores del modelo y la inva rianza por sexo y, finalmente, se estableció la confiabilidad con diferentes estimadores del alfa. Se obtuvo un alto nivel de consistencia interna. Se concluye que la FCS presenta adecuadas propiedades psicomé tricas, que apoyan su uso como instrumento de evaluación de la comunicación familiar en universitarios.

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyze the psychometric properties of the Family Communication Scale (FCS) in a sample of 491 students at a private university in Lima, Peru, aged between 16 and 28 years (χ² = 20.31, SD = 3.08). The sample was divided into two proportional groups. In the first, an exploratory factor analysis was made: χ² (45) = 966.8, p < .000, n = 246; extracting one dimension by the parallel analysis method, GFI = .99, RMCR = .06. Later, in the second group, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted: χ² = 80.31; χ²/d.f. = 2.36; CFI = 1.00; GFI = .995; AGFI = .992; RMSEA = .000; RMR = .050 (n = 245), suitably adjusted to a single dimension. Model errors and gender invariance were analyzed and finally a reliability alpha was established with different estimators, obtaining a high level of internal consistency. We conclude that the FCS presents adequate psychometric properties that support its use as an assessment tool for family communication in college.

The Relationship between a Spouse's Alcohol Use Disorder and Family Communication / 가정의학회지

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) affects not only an individual's health but also their family. This study was conducted to examine effects of a spouse's AUD on family functioning and family communication. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from 890 participants (445 couples) in a Korean family cohort in primary care. Participants with Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test in Korea scores of 8 or greater were classified into an AUD group. Family functioning was classified into three groups (balanced, midrange, and extreme) using the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES)-III questionnaire, and then reclassified into two groups (appropriate and extreme groups) for binominal analyses. Family communication was classified into three groups (high, moderate, and low) using the Family Communication Scale, FACES-IV, and also reclassified into two groups (good and poor). RESULTS: There was no significant difference in adaptability and cohesion between both male and female participants with a spouse with AUD and participants with a spouse without AUD. Using multivariate logistic regression to adjust for potential confounders, there was no significant difference in family type and communication between the two groups in males. However, there was a significant decrease in family communication (odds ratio, 2.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.29 to 3.58) in females with a spouse with AUD compared to females with a spouse without AUD, even after adjusting for the participant's own AUD. CONCLUSION: In females, family communication is significantly worse when spouses have AUD. This suggests that a husband's alcohol consumption has negative effects on his wife's family communication.

A comunicação médico - paciente pediátrico - família na perspectiva da criança / Doctor - pediatric patient - family communication, from the child’s perspective

Esta pesquisa visou a descrever a comunicação médico - paciente pediátrico - família na perspectiva da criança. Participaram do estudo 15 crianças hospitalizadas com doenças crônicas. Foram realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas, utilizou-se a análise de conteúdo temático, que resultou em cinco categorias: tipos de comunicação, conteúdos comunicados, comunicação médico - paciente pediátrico - família, comunicação intrafamiliar e fontes de informação. Os tipos de comunicação citados foram a direta e a indireta. Em relação aos conteúdos comunicados, as crianças recordaram dos momentos de menor sofrimento. As crianças referiram que os profissionais conversam mais com os seus pais do que com elas. A comunicação familiar foi indicada como a principal fonte de informação sobre a doença. Desta forma, considera-se que as crianças possuem capacidade de compreender e perceber o que corre com o seu corpo; no entanto, os profissionais e a família tendem a omitir informações visando a protegê-las de maiores sofrimentos.

The objective of this research was to outline the communication between doctor, pediatric patient and the family from the perspective of the child with chronic disease. Fifteen hospitalized children have participated in it, the included age range being between 5 and 13 years old; Firstly, semi-structured interviews were applied and then the data was analyzed according to the 'thematic content analysis technique’. The analysis resulted in 5 categories: type of communication, content communicated, communication doctor - pediatric patient - family, intra-family communication and sources of information. The children examined showed two types of communication: direct and indirect. In relation to the content of the communication, the children remembered the moments which enerated less suffering. All the children said the professionals talked more to their parents, rather than directly to them. Familiar communication was said to be the main source of information about the illness. In this way it was seen that children have the capacity to understand and perceive what happens with their bodies, however professionals and family tend to omit information with the intention of protecting them from greater suffering.

La comunicación familiar en asentamientos subnormales de Montería (Colombia) / Family communication in subnormal settlements in Montería (Colombia)

Este estudio es producto de una investigación cuantitativa que describe las características de la comunicación que se forja al interior de las familias en los barrios subnormales de Montería (Colombia). El diseño metodológico partió de un muestreo intencional con 300 familias pertenecientes a cuatro asentamientos subnormales de la ciudad de Montería. La información fue obtenida de la aplicación de dos encuestas, una que mide características demográficas de los hogares, y el cuestionario CFA creado por Garcés (2004), que mide niveles de comunicación familiar. Dentro de los hallazgos más importante se resalta el hecho de que las familias nucleares de estos barrios subnormales seleccionados mostraron mejores niveles de comunicación y de relaciones que las monoparentales y extensas. Sin embargo, independientemente del tipo de familia se logra descubrir que es la figura materna la que muestra desarrollar con mayor fuerza que la figura paterna la comunicación afectiva y reguladora con los hijos. Otro aspecto por resaltar de este estudio es que se encontraron cuatro aspectos que ponen obstáculos al desarrollo funcional de la comunicación y las relaciones familiares, y estos son: la separación de los padres, el maltrato psicológico y físico, la crisis económica y el consumo de drogas.

This study is the result of a quantitative investigation that describes the characteristics of communication within families in subnormal neighborhoods of the city of Montería. The methodological design started with an intentional sample of 300 families that belong to four subnormal settlements in the city of Montería. The information was obtained through the application of two surveys, one to measure the demographic characteristics of homes and the CFA questionnaire created by Garces (2004) to measure the levels of family communication. From the most important findings of this study, it is highlighted that nuclear families showed better levels of communication and relationship than monoparental and extended ones. However, independently from the type of family, it was found that the mother figure shows better development than the father figure in the emotional and regulating communication with the children. Another aspect to highlight is that four aspects were found to be an obstacle in the functional development of communication and family relationships: parents' separation, psychological and physical abuse, the economical crisis and drug consumption.

El rol de la comunicación familiar y del ajuste escolar en la salud mental del adolescente

resumen está disponible en el texto completo

Summary Family and school contexts play an especially important role on adolescent psychological adjustment. Previous research shows, for example, that a negative family environment characterized by communication problems between parents and adolescents, is a risk factor for the development of children's mental health problems, such as depressive symptoms, anxiety and stress. On the contrary, family communication based on respect and affection, has a positive effect on adolescent psychological adjustment. Regarding school context, there are also some factors which have been associated with psychological adjustment problems, like academic failure, low school self-esteem, or interpersonal problems with peers (e.g. victimization). In this sense, prior studies have reported that adolescents with low school self-esteem or who have been victimized at school show more depressive symptomatology and psychological stress. Nevertheless, although the empirical evidence has demonstrated that some family and school factors directly influence adolescent psychological well-being, there are still some questions to answer to better understand relationships between these variables. For example, in relation to family communication, research has traditionally focused on communication with mother, while recent studies suggest that fathers and mothers may separately contribute to the explanation of some mental health problems in children. Along this line, some authors have reported that adolescent psychological adjustment seems to be more closely associated to a father-child relationship based on affect and acceptance. Taking into account all these findings, the aim of the present study was to analyze the influence of family communication (with father and mother separately) and school adjustment (school self-esteem and victimization problems) on adolescent's mental health (psychological distress: depressive symptomatology and perceived stress). Participants: In the study participated 1068 adolescents ranging in age from 11 to 16 years old, of whom 84% lived with both father and mother at the time when the research was taking place. Since in the present study adolescent's communication with father and mother is separately analyzed, it was considered that the final sample should be composed of adolescents who live with both parents. The final sample consisted of 875 adolescents from four public schools in the Valencian Community (Spain), mean age 13.7 years old, and of whom 47% were male. Prior to data collection, parents and teachers were informed about the objectives of the study. The adolescents filled out the scales, anonymously, in their schools during a regular class period. Measures and instruments were the following: Family communication, was measured using the 20-item Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale -PACS- from Barnes and Olson. The original scale shows a two-factor structure referring to degree of openness and extent of problems in family communication. However, we could not replicate this factor structure in our data. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation yielded a three-factor structure for father and mother separately: openness in family communication (10 items), offensive communication with parents (6 items), and avoidant communication with parents (4 items). Cronbach's reliability coefficients for these subscales were 0.87, 0.76 and 0.75 respectively. School self-esteem: was assessed using a 6-item School Self-Esteem Scale, adapted from a previous scale -AFA- from Musitu, García and Gutiérrez. This scale informs about the adolescent's self-perception in relation to school and academic matters. Coefficient alpha in the present study was 0.86. Victimization: was measured using a 6-item Victimization Scale which evaluates the frequency with which respondents have been victimized at school in the past 12 months. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for this scale was 0.82. Depressive symptomatology: was assessed by the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale -CESD. The CESD is a 20-item scale which evaluates the presence of depressive symptomatology, including depressed mood, positive affect, somatic and retarded activity, and negative perception of interpersonal relationships. It also provides a global measure of depressive mood, used in this study. Cronbach's alpha reliability for this scale in the present sample was 0.90. Perceived stress: was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale - PSS- from Cohen, Kamarck, and Mermelstein. The PSS is a 14-item scale which measures the degree to which respondents appraised situations as stressful within the last month. Coefficient alpha in the current study for this scale was 0.82. We used EQS 6.0 Structural Equation Program to examine the influence of family communication and school adjustment on adolescent's mental health (psychological distress). The structural model showed a good fit with the data: S-B χ2 (22, N = 875) = 55.56, p < .001; CFI = 0.98; IFI = 0.98; NNFI = 0.96; and RMSEA = 0.05; and explained 53.6% of variance in psychological distress. Latent variables in this model were: Communication with Father (indicators: open communication, offensive communication and avoidant communication), Communication with Mother (indicators: open communication, offensive communication and avoidant communication), School Self-Esteem, Victimization (these two variables consist of only one indicator), and Psychological Distress (indicators: depressive symptomatology and perceived stress). In the prediction of adolescent's psychological distress, results showed a direct influence of family communication problems on the degree of distress experienced. In other words, adolescents who informed about communication problems with their mothers and/or fathers, showed more depressive symptoms and stress. Moreover, we found an indirect influence of family communication on psychological distress, through its effect on adolescent's school adjustment. In this sense, results indicated that open communication with parents was positively associated with school self-esteem which, in turn, was negatively related to psychological distress. Also, communication with father showed an indirect relationship with adolescent's distress, through victimization at school: negative father-adolescent communication seems to be related to victimization problems, and these problems, in turn, have a direct influence on the degree of psychological distress. These findings are consistent with those reported in recent studies indicating that the father-child relationship and victimization problems at school are two interrelated factors. It is possible that this negative parent-adolescent interaction results in a "victim scheme" in children, that is to say, in the conception of parents as threatening figures and of oneself as a weak person, which makes these adolescents behave in a way that invites victimization by peers. As a conclusion, this investigation confirms previous research which points out the important role that family and school contexts play on adolescent mental health. Our results suggest that both family relationships and adjustment problems at school are directly related to the development of some psychological problems, such as the presence of depressive symptoms and stress. Moreover, results of the present study show that some family and school factors are interrelated and jointly contribute to the explanation of adolescent psychological distress. The findings suggest that communication problems in the family context may result in adjustment problems in the school context which, in turn, have a negative effect on adolescent mental health. Finally, caution about making causal inference from our results should be maintained, due to the correlational nature of the investigation. Further clarification of the relationships would require a longitudinal study. Nevertheless, from an exploratory point of view, the results of the current study could guide future investigations to obtain more conclusive data for the design of intervention programs.