Assessing Family Strengths and Family Functioning Style

Abstract

The qualities of strong families are described, and assessment tools for measuring family strengths are reviewed. Empirical evidence demonstrating the reliability and validity of the Family Functioning Style Scale is presented. The article concludes with a discussion of the use of family strengths assessment data for intervention purposes.The current interest in the assessment of family strengths, as well as efforts to support and strengthen family functioning, has a short but rich history. The pioneering work of Otto (1962, 1 9 6 3 , 1975) forms the foundation of the current work in the family strengths arena. Bowman (1983) aggregated and summarized much of what is currently believed to be the major indicators of the strengths of strong families. Curran (1983) and Karpel (1986) provide extensive descriptions of the traits and personal resources of healthy, well-adjusted families. The most ambitious work on identifying the unique characteristics of strong families has been conducted by Stinnett and his colleagues (Lingren et al.

An Evaluation of Gay/Lesbian and Heterosexual Adoption

“…Family functioning was measured by the Family Function Style Scale (FFSS) (Trivette, Dunst, Deal, Hamby, & Sexton, 1994). The FFSS is based on the strengths perspective and measures the degree to which the respondent believes one's family is represented by different strengths and capabilities.…”

The Mediating Role of Parental Psychological Health in Chinese Families in an Impoverished Context in Hong Kong

“…Family Functioning Style Scale (FFSS) was used to measure positive family functioning in this study (Trivette et al, 1990). Positive family functioning denotes the characteristic of cohesiveness, constructive interaction, effective communication, and mutual support as well as high commitment among family members in a family unit (Anderson et al, 2007;Trivette et al, 1990).…”

“…Positive family functioning denotes the characteristic of cohesiveness, constructive interaction, effective communication, and mutual support as well as high commitment among family members in a family unit (Anderson et al, 2007;Trivette et al, 1990). FFSS is a 5-point Likert-type scale and has 26 items.…”

“…A family with good functioning displays mutual support, efficient communications, sense of shared purposes and values, reciprocal interactions, and feelings of congruence and cohesion (Anderson et al, 2007;Trivette et al, 1990). On the other hand, literature and research has demonstrated that poverty itself does not explain all the variance in family functioning; rather, it is probably the multiple stressors in a cumulative nature at the family level incurred from concurrent financial strain that produce undesirable family functioning characteristics (Ackerman et al, 2004;Linver et al, 2002) including poor parenting styles, estranged interpersonal relationships, and inadequate communications within the family (Barnett, 2008;Raikes & Thompson, 2005).…”

Effect of systemic therapy on alcoholics family resilience

“…Upitnik, koji smo koristili, ne pokriva ovako specifične oblasti proizašle iz terapije alkoholizma, već širu kategoriju kvaliteta života koji bi se odnosio na celu populaciju Koncept kvaliteta života ispitivali smo samoprocenom identifikovanog pacijenta i kopacijenta, kako pojedinačnom tako i prosečnom procenom koju smo definisali kao procenu porodice u celini. Prikaz multiple regresione analize koji određuje koja kombinacija nezavisnih varijabli najbolje predviđa kvalitet života za ceo uzorak (200), dat je u narednoj tabeli.…”