Assessing social desirability in family self-report

This study focused on social desirability in family members' self-reports. 32 clinical families (93 family members) were given self-report measures from the McMaster and Circumplex family-assessment models and a measure of social desirability. Clinicians assessed these families on clinical rating scales from the same models. Regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between self-reports, social desirability scores, and clinicians' ratings. It was expected that social desirability would be a suppressor variable (i.e., when accounted for, the similarity between clinicians' and family members' ratings would be enhanced). This did not occur; instead, social desirability was significantly but negatively correlated with ratings of pathology. Results provide evidence that correcting for social desirability on clinical pencil-and-paper tests is not supported.     

Marital Quality, Family Patterns, and Children's Fears and Social Anxiety

This study examined relationships among marital quality, family patterns, and children's fears, and social anxiety. Two types of family patterns were studied, adaptability and cohesion. Mothers of children aged 5–6, drawn from kindergartens in northern Israel, completed Hebrew versions of the ENRICH scale (abridged, for marital quality), FACES-III (adaptability and cohesion), the FSSC-R (fears), and the SASC-R (social anxiety). Family cohesion was negatively correlated with marital quality and positively correlated with children's social anxiety. Marital quality and family adaptability were inversely related to specific children's fears. Children's social anxiety was highly correlated with specific fears. These findings suggest that children from rigid, fused families or low quality marriages may be at risk for high levels of fears and social anxiety.     

Family adaptability,cohesion, and creativity

With the awareness of the role stress plays in our lives, it is vital to gain a better insight into the family and assess its adaptability and cohesion. This study was conducted to examine the association between perceived family adaptability and cohesion levels and creativity. Eighty college students from interior design and hotel and restaurant administration classes received the How Do You Think Instrument and the Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales. Results indicated that the highest creativity scores characterized highly adaptable families. The lowest creativity scores were characteristic of rigid families (low adaptability). Adaptability within the family was a significant contributor in predicting creativity scores, but family cohesion was not.     

Family Functioning and the Course of Adolescent Bipolar Disorder

The symptoms of bipolar disorder affect and are affected by the functioning of family environments. Little is known, however, about the stability of family functioning among youth with bipolar disorder as they cycle in and out of mood episodes. This study examined family functioning and its relationship to symptoms of adolescent bipolar disorder, using longitudinal measures of family cohesion, adaptability, and conflict. Parent- and adolescent-reported symptom and family functioning data were collected from 58 families of adolescents with bipolar disorder (mean age = 14.48 ± 1.60; 33 female, 25 male) who participated in a 2-year randomized trial of family-focused treatment for adolescents (FFT-A). Cohesion and adaptability scores did not significantly change over the course of the study. Parent-reported conflict prior to psychosocial treatment moderated the treatment responses of families, such that high-conflict families participating in FFT-A demonstrated greater reductions in conflict over time than low-conflict families. Moreover, adolescent mania symptoms improved more rapidly in low-conflict than in high-conflict families. For all respondents, cohesion, adaptability, and conflict were longitudinally correlated with adolescents’ depression scores. Finally, decreases in parent-reported conflict also predicted decreases in adolescents’ manic symptoms over the 2-year study. Findings suggest that family cohesion, adaptability, and conflict may be useful predictors of the course of adolescent mood symptoms. Family conflict may be an important target for family intervention in early onset bipolar disorder.     

An Inventory of Affective Tolerance

The two dimensions of personality, extraversion (E) and neuroticism (N) as measured by the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), were tested for their social desirability response set and their independence. Results from a collegiate sample (N = 282) show that E and N scales were susceptible to social desirability response bias for males and females, respectively. This bias could not be overcome by eliminating Ss who reported higher scores on the lie scale included in the EPI. The dimensionality of the two scales for the male Ss is questionable.     

Sequential Analyses of Adolescent,Mother, and Father Behaviors in Distressed and Nondistressed Families

The Response Class Matrix was used to compare sequential relations among behaviors in clinic families with a problem adolescent and those in non-clinic families with an adolescent under two experimental conditions, discussing a problem and planning something together. Clinic dyads manifested significantly more negative an les problem-solving behavior overall. When the family was planning something together, clinic mothers responded to their adolescents' negative behavior significantly more often with negative behavior and less often with problem-solving than did their nonclinic counterparts. Clinic adolescents responded to their mothers' negative behavior significantly more often with negative behavior and with less problem-solving than non-clinic adolescents, both when planning something together and when discussing a problem. These patterns were not observed with fathers. When the family was planning something together, clinic adolescents responded to both their mothers' and fathers' problem-solving with significantly more negative and less problem-solving behavior than did non-clinic adolescents. Results are discussed in terms of the aversive nature of the family environment for clinic adolescents, and the differences between mothers' and fathers' interactions with adolescents.     

Systems and symptoms: Family cohesion/ adaptability and childhood behavior problems

The relation between family systems and child symptomatology was examined among children aged 6 to 11 and adolescents aged 12 to 16 who had been referred for clinical services. On the basis of an assessment of family cohesion and adaptability, the families were divided into three groups: extreme, midrange, and balanced. Problem behaviors were assessed with a symptoms checklist, and the child's self-esteem was also measured. Families in the balanced range had children with fewer symptoms than did midrange or extreme families; his relation was less strong among families with adolescents. Self-esteem and symptoms were negatively correlated in these samples. Self-esteem did not moderate the relation between systems and symptoms but was independently related to family functioning. These results suggest the operation of bilateral processes within the family that link cohesion and adaptability, on the one hand, with low self-esteem and indications of psychopathology, on the other.This investigation is based on a dissertation submitted by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. Degree in developmental psychology, University of Nijmegen, and was conducted with financial support supplied by Program Project HD 50527, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Willard W. Hartup, principal investigator. We wish to thank James Hogan, Scott Jacobson, James Jungerberg, Philip Mead, Grace Owen, Mary Sirek, and Gary Yeast for their assistance in gathering the data, and Yoav Lavee for assistance with the data analysis. We are also grateful to the parents and children for their cooperation.     

Family functioning and psychopathology among adolescents with severe emotional disturbances

Family psychosocial functioning and its relation to psychopathology among adolescents with severe emotional disturbances (SED) was assessed. Subjects were 353 adolescents with SED, ages 12–18, and their parents. During a semistructured interview, adolescents were administered Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES-III), Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Child Version (DISC-C), and the Self-Derogation Scale. Parents were administered FACES-IIII and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in a phone interview. Results indicated that on the FACES-IIII cohesion dimension, both parents and adolescents perceived their family relations as more disengaged and less connected than did normative families (p < .001). In contrast, only parent FACES-IIII adaptability scores were significantly more extreme than a normative sample (p < .01). Additionally, both parent and adolescent cohesion scores were significantly correlated with adolescent psyehopathology measures: DISC-C conduct disorder (p < .01), depression (p < .05), alcohol/marijuana (p < .01), and CBCL externalizing symptoms (p < .01). These relationships did not deviate from linearity. We gratefully acknowledge Eric C. Brown, Sue Greer, and Sharon P. Lardieri for assistance in data management of this project. Preparation of this article was supported by grant H133B90004-01 from the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research and the National Institute of Mental Health.     

The Family Assessment Device: An Update

The current study set out to describe family functioning scores of a contemporary community sample, using the Family Assessment Device (FAD), and to compare this to a currently help‐seeking sample. The community sample consisted of 151 families who completed the FAD. The help‐seeking sample consisted of 46 families who completed the FAD at their first family therapy appointment as part of their standard care at an outpatient family therapy clinic at an urban hospital. Findings suggest that FAD means from the contemporary community sample indicate satisfaction with family functioning, while FAD scores from the help‐seeking sample indicate dissatisfaction with family functioning. In addition, the General Functioning scale of the FAD continues to correlate highly with all other FAD scales, except Behavior Control. The cut‐off scores for the FAD indicating satisfaction or dissatisfaction by family members with their family functioning continue to be relevant and the FAD continues to be a useful tool to assess family functioning in both clinical and research contexts.     

Social desirability,adequacy of social support and mental health

The extent to which the association between satisfaction with social support and mental health was due to social desirability was determined. Whether this association differed between those high and low on social desirability was also examined. Measures consisted of the Crowne – Marlowe Scale, the Adequacy of Social Integration and Attachment Indices, the General Health Questionnaire, the Zung Self‐Rating Depression Scale and four scales from the Delusions‐Symptoms‐States Inventory. The sample comprised 132 women and 93 men randomly drawn from a larger sample of 756 selected at random from the Canberra electoral roll. Although social desirability was positively associated with satisfaction with social support and mental health, the association between mental health and satisfaction with social support was little reduced when social desirability was controlled, indicating that social desirability did not account for the association between social support and mental health. The association between satisfaction with social support and mental health did not differ between those high and low in social desirability, suggesting that this association was not moderated by social desirability. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Study of Belief in the Accuracy of Newspaper Reports

An examination of the relationship of scores on Siegel's Manifest Hostility Scale (MHS) to Verbal Hostility, Fantasy Hostility, and Hostile Feeling responses to cartoon situations was undertaken, while controlling for sex of subject, sex of experimenter, and the social desirability (So-R) and ego strength/defensiveness (K) scales of the MMPI. MHS scores were significantly related to the three modes of hostility response, while sex of subject and sex of experimenter were not. Adjustment of the dependent variable means for So-R did not cancel MHS effects on Verbal or Fantasy Hostility, but adjustment for K cancelled the significant relationship between MHS scores and Fantasy Hostility and Hostile Feeling responses. Covariation of both K and So-R out of Verbal Hostility cancelled its relationship to MHS scores. Ego strength/defensiveness thus may be more significantly related to hostile responding than social desirability.     

Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems: I. Cohesion and Adaptability Dimensions,Family Types,and Clinical Applications

The conceptual clustering of numerous concepts from family therapy and other social science fields reveals two significant dimensions of family behavior, cohesion and adaptability. These two dimensions are placed into a circumplex model that is used to identify 16 types of marital and family systems. The model proposes that a balanced level of both cohesion and adaptability is the most functional to marital and family development. It postulates the need for a balance on the cohesion dimension between too much closeness (which leads to enmeshed systems) and too little closeness (which leads to disengaged systems). There also needs to be a balance on the adaptability dimension between too much change (which leads to chaotic systems) and too little change (which leads to rigid systems). The model was developed as a tool for clinical diagnosis and for specifying treatment goals with couples and families.     

The Social Phobia and Social Interaction Anxiety Scales: Evaluation of Psychometric Properties

The present investigations examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of two new self-report measures of social phobia, the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and the Social Phobia Scale (SPS). A confirmatory factor analysis in Study I provided support for the fit of a two-factor model of the SIAS and SPS. Internal consistency estimates were high for the original two scales with a sample of 200 undergraduates. Also, using an item parceling procedure, the obtained internal consistency reliability indices for each parcel were acceptable. Results of the CFA in Study II provided support for the factorial stability of the model identified in Study I. Furthermore, multisample analyses showed invariant patterns for factor loadings and factor correlations across 138 men and 272 women. Gender differences were not observed in the mean SIAS and SPS scale and item scores. Both scales correlated negatively and significantly with measures of social desirability. Concurrent validity was established for the scales. The SPS was less specific than the SIAS to symptoms of social phobia.     

Circumplex model of marital and family systems: III. Empirical evaluation with families.

This study was designed to test the circumplex model of family systems that hypothesizes moderate family cohesion and moderate adaptability to be more functional than either extreme. Thirty-one Catholic family triads with daughters ranging in age from 14 to 17 years participated in a structured family interaction game (SIMFAM) and filled out questionnaires that measured the variables of cohesion and adaptability and the facilitative variables of support and creativity. All families were considered normal but were subdivided into those that had more and less difficulty with this adolescent. Analysis of the data yielded considerable support for the circumplex model. High family functioning was associated with moderate family cohesion and adaptability, and low family functioning had extreme scores on these dimensions. As predicted, high family support and creativity were also related to high family functioning. Implications of these findings for family therapy are discussed.     

Examining the construct validity of the Eating Disorder Inventory

The construct validity of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) was examined in 3 samples. An archival clinic sample (n = 318) of women completed the EDI, a structured interview, and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) indicated that neither null nor 1-factor models of the EDI fit item-level or item-parcel data. The proposed 8-factor model did not fit at the item level but did fit item-parcel data. Reliability estimates of the 8 scales ranged from .82 to .93, and low-to-moderate interscale correlations among the eating and weight-related scales provided partial support for convergent validity. EDI personality scales showed moderate interscale correlations and were associated with MCMI-II scales. A final CFA of the EDI scales supported a 2-factor model (Eating and Weight, Personality) of the 8 EDI scales. Strong associations between depression and several EDI scale scores were found in a treatment study sample (n = 50). The archival clinic sample scored significantly higher on the 8 EDI scales than the nonpatient college comparison sample (n = 487).     

An evaluation of the family adaptability and cohesion evaluation scales and the circumplex model

Two basic assumptions of the Circumplex Model of family systems were evaluated: (1) Healthy families evidence balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability, whereas problem families evidence extreme degrees, and (2) families with balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability possess more positive communication skills than families with extreme degrees. Subjects were 58 mother-son dyads from father-absent families. In 29 of the families the adolescent was a juvenile offender, while in the remaining families there was no history of arrest or psychiatric referral. The dyads completed the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales (FACES) and an unrevealed differences interaction task. FACES was highly proficient at differentiating delinquent from nondelinquent families. Moreover, in families with balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability, the mothers' communication was significantly more supportive and explicit, and the dyads evidenced significantly greater warmth and affection than dyads with extreme degrees.This research was supported by funding to the Department of Psychology at Memphis State University granted through the Centers of Excellence Program of the State of Tennessee. We thank the staff of the Memphis-Metro Youth Diversion Project for their consideration and assistance.     

The development of Addiction-Prone Personality traits in biological and adoptive families

This project investigated the predictors of Addiction-Prone Personality (APP) scores in youth and young adults from biological (N = 328, 53% female) and adoptive (N = 77, 53% female) families. The development of offspring’s APP traits was examined from three different angles: (1) patterns in biological and adoptive families, (2) offspring’s vs. parent’s perceptions of familial environment, and (3) different points in the life span. The offspring’s APP scores were found to be significantly predicted by parents’ APP scores in both biological and adoptive families. Parents’ APP scores and offspring’s gender consistently showed significant direct influences on offspring’s APP scores in biological families. The familial care factor (maternal and paternal care, family cohesion, and family adaptability) was found to be the consistent significant predictor of offspring’s APP scores in adoptive families even when offspring became older. These results are consistent in showing that the social environment plays an important role in the development of Addiction-Prone Personality traits.     

Childhood depression and conduct disorder: I. Behavioral, affective, and cognitive aspects of family problem-solving interactions.

We assessed the family interactions of depressed, conduct-disordered, mixed depressed-conduct-disordered, and nonclinic children, ages 7-14 years, during a standardized family problem-solving discussion in the clinic. The child's and the mother's problem-solving proficiency, aversive behavior, and associated affective behavior (depressed and angry-hostile) were observed. The child and mother also rated each other's affect during the interaction for the dimensions sad, angry, critical, and happy on Likert-type scales. The child's and mother's cognitive constructions about the interaction were assessed using video-mediated recall. Although all clinic groups had lower levels of effective problem solving than did nonclinic children, their deficiencies were somewhat different. Mixed and depressed children displayed high levels of depressed affect and low levels of angry affect, whereas conduct-disordered children displayed both angry and depressed affect. In addition, conduct-disordered children had lower levels of positive problem solving and higher levels of aversive content than did non-conduct-disordered children. Depressed and conduct-disordered children had higher levels of self-referent negative cognitions than did mixed and comparison children, and depressed children also had higher other-referent negative cognitions than did all other groups. The study provides support for theories and treatment that stress the importance of family problem-solving and conflict resolution skills in child psychopathology.     

Academic Self-Efficacy,School Engagement and Family Functioning,Among Postsecondary Students in the Caribbean

A neglected area of study in adolescent development is family functioning in relation to adolescents’ sense of self and academic success. This study investigates students’ perceptions of their levels of family functioning (cohesiveness and adaptability) as it relates to their academic self-efficacy and school engagement, and answers the following questions: (1) Are there any significant differences in the academic self-efficacy beliefs and school engagement of Caribbean adolescents based on levels of family cohesion and family adaptability? (2) To what extent does the combination of family cohesion and family adaptability predict the academic self-efficacy and school engagement of Caribbean adolescents? Data were collected from a sample of 523 adolescents (197 males and 326 females) aged 17–19 years, enroled in postsecondary institutions in two Anglophone Caribbean countries (Barbados and St. Lucia). Results indicated that adolescents from families with balanced cohesion held significantly higher academic self-efficacy beliefs and school engagement levels than those from families with low cohesion. Regression analyses indicated that the family functioning model significantly predicted academic self-efficacy and school engagement. Interpretation of these results are discussed.