Skip to main content
Original Article

The Family Relationships Index (FRI)

Multilevel Confirmatory Factor Analysis in an Italian Community Sample

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000427

Abstract. Factor analysis of nested data is a challenge for researchers when they need to accurately identify the most appropriate latent configuration of self-report instruments. The present study used a multilevel framework to evaluate the factor structure underlying the 12-item three-factor Family Relationships Index (FRI), while adapting this instrument to the Italian context. By way of separating the two sources of variance (within and between families), results from 231 family members nested in 77 family triads supported a three-factor model (i.e., family cohesion, communication, and conflict resolution). Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) corroborated this model at the family level in particular. A one-factor model was also tested but resulted in being less suitable at both the individual (within) and family (between) level of analysis. Finally, we consider challenges in using such statistical techniques, while taking into account the FRI’s briefness and easiness to complete and score it in a practice-oriented assessment perspective.

References

  • Abbott, D. A., & Brody, G. H. (1985). The relation of child age, gender, and number of children to the marital adjustment of wives. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47, 77–84. doi: 10.2307/352070 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Akaike, H. (1987). Factor analysis and AIC. Psychometrika, 52, 317–332. doi: 10.1007/BF02294359 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Aniol, K., Mullins, L. L., Page, M. C., Boyd, M. L., & Chaney, J. M. (2004). The relationship between respite care and child abuse potential in parents of children with developmental disabilities: A preliminary report. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 16, 273–285. doi: 1056-263X/04/0900-0273/0 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Aranda, S., & Milne, D. (2000). Guidelines for the assessment of complicated bereavement risk in family members of people receiving palliative care. Melbourne, Australia: Centre for Palliative Care Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Bagozzi, R. P., & Yi, Y. (1988). On the evaluation of structural equation models. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16, 74–94. doi: 10.1177/009207038801600107 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Barsky, P. I., Gindina, E. D., Lobaskova, M. M., & Malykh, S. B. (2010). Perception of family environment with Russian adolescent twins: Possible genotype-environment correlation. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 3, 412–430. doi: 10.11621/pir.2010.0019 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Beaton, D. E., Bombardier, C., Guillemin, F., & Ferraz, M. B. (2000). Guidelines for the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures. Spine, 25, 3186–3191. doi: 10.1097/00007632-200012150-00014 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bertuola, L. (1999). Contributo per la revisione dell’adattamento italiano delle scale di ambiente familiare [A contribution for the revision of the Italian adjustment of the Family Environment Scale]. Famiglia, Interdisciplinarietà e Ricerca, 4, 108–125. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Bishop, D. S., Epstein, N. B., Keitner, G. I., Miller, I. W., & Zlotnick, C. (1980). The McMaster structured interview of family functioning. Providence, RI: Brown University Family Research Program. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Bloom, J. R., & Spiegel, D. (1984). The relationship of two dimensions of social support to the psychological well-being and social functioning of women with advanced breast cancer. Social Science and Medicine, 19, 831–837. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(84)90400-3 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bohnert, A. M., Martin, N. C., & Garber, J. (2007). Predicting adolescents’ organized activity involvement: The role of maternal depression history, family relationship quality, and adolescent cognitions. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17, 221–244. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2007.00520.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Byrne, B. M. (1998). Structural equation modeling with LISREL, PRELIS, and SIMPLIS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Casella, A., & Kearins, J. (1993). Cross-cultural comparison of family environments of Anglo-Australians, Italian-Australians, and Southern Italians. Psychological Reports, 72, 1051–1057. doi: 10.2466/pr0.1993.72.3.1051 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Chen, J., Chen, J., Li, S., Liu, J., Ouyang, G., Luo, W., … Wang, G. (2015). Comparisons of family environment between homeless and non-homeless individuals with schizophrenia in Xiangtan, Hunan. Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry, 27, 175–182. doi: 10.11919/j.issn.1002-0829.214162 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 233–255. doi: 10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis in the behavioral sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Dedrick, R. F., & Greenbaum, P. E. (2010). Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis of a scale measuring interagency collaboration of children’s mental health agencies. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 19, 27–40. doi: 10.1177/1063426610365879 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Dyer, N. G., Hanges, P. J., & Hall, R. J. (2005). Applying multilevel confirmatory factor analysis techniques to the study of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16, 149–167. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2004.09.009 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Edwards, B. E. N., & Clarke, V. (2005). The validity of the Family Relationships Index as a screening tool for psychological risk in families of cancer patients. Psycho-Oncology, 14, 546–554. doi: 10.1002/pon.876 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ellis, D. A., Yopp, J., Templin, T., Naar-King, S., Frey, M. A., Cunningham, P. B., … Niec, L. N. (2007). Family mediators and moderators of treatment outcomes among youths with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes: Results from a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 32, 194–205. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsj116 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Fobair, P., Bloom, J., Kuspa, L., Varghese, A., & Spiegel, D. (1993). The role of family support in patient adaptation to Hodgkin’s disease, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Oncology Social Workers, New York, NY First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Gehring, T. M., Debry, M., & Smith, P. K. (2001). The Family System Test (FAST): Theory and application. London, UK: Brunner-Routledge. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Geldhof, G. J., Preacher, K. J., & Zyphur, M. J. (2014). Reliability estimation in a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis framework. Psychological Methods, 19, 72–91. doi: 10.1037/a0032138 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Gerhardt, C. A., Vannatta, K., McKellop, J. M., Zeller, M., Taylor, J., Passo, M., & Noll, R. B. (2003). Comparing parental distress, family functioning, and the role of social support caregivers with and without a child with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 28, 5–15. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/28.1.5 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • González-Pinto, A., Ruiz de Azúa, S., Ibáñez, B., Otero-Cuesta, S., Castro-Fornieles, J., Graell-Berna, M., … Arango, C. (2011). Can positive family factors be protective against the development of psychosis? Psychiatry Research, 186, 28–33. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2010.05.015 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Graf, A., Landolt, M. A., Capone Mori, A. C., & Boltshauser, E. (2006). Quality of life and psychological adjustment in children and adolescents with neurofibromatosis type 1. The Journal of Pediatrics, 149, 348–353. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2006.04.025 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Hoge, R. D., Andrews, D. A., Faulkner, P., & Robinson, D. (1989). The Family Relationships Index: Validity data. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45, 897–903. doi: 10.1002/1097-4679(198911)45:6 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Holahan, C. J., & Moos, R. H. (1983). The quality of social support: Measures of family and work relationships. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 22, 157–162. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1983.tb00596.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Howell, D. C. (2007). The treatment of missing data. In W. OuthwaiteS. P. TurnerEds., The SAGE handbook of social science methodology (pp. 208–224). London, UK: Sage. doi: 10.1111/jmft.12150 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Hox, J. J.Roberts, J. K.Eds.. (2011). Handbook of advanced multilevel analysis. New York, NY: Routledge. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1998). Fit indexes in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods, 3, 424–453. doi: 10.1037/1082-989X.3.4.424 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. doi: 10.1080/10705519909540118 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Iacobucci, D. (2010). Structural equation modeling: Fit indices, sample size, and advanced topics. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 20, 90–98. doi: 10.1016/j.jcps.2009.09.003 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kissane, D. W., & Bloch, S. (2002). Family focused grief therapy: A model of family-centred care during palliative care and bereavement. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. doi: 10.1080/02682620308657563 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kissane, D. W., Bloch, S., Burns, W. I., McKenzie, D. P., & Posterino, M. (1994). Psychological morbidity in the families of patients with cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 3, 47–56. doi: 10.1002/pon.2960030109 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kissane, D. W., Bloch, S., McKenzie, M., McDowall, A. C., & Nitzan, R. (1998). Family grief therapy: A preliminary account of a new model to promote healthy family functioning during palliative care and bereavement. Psycho-Oncology, 7, 14–25. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1611(199801/02)7:1 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kissane, D. W., McKenzie, M., Bloch, S., Moskowitz, C., McKenzie, D. P., & O’Neill, I. (2006). Family focused grief therapy: A randomized, controlled trial in palliative care and bereavement. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1208–1218. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.163.7.1208 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Kissane, D. W., Bloch, S., Dowe, D. L., Snyder, R. D., Onghena, P., McKenzie, D. P., & Wallace, C. S. (1996). The Melbourne family grief study, I: Perceptions of family functioning in bereavement. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 650–658. doi: 10.1176/ajp.153.5.650 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Lanz, M., & Maino, E. (2014). Family Environment Scale. In A. C. MichalosEd., Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research (pp. 2170–2173). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_999 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Lanz, M., Scabini, E., Tagliabue, S., & Morgano, A. (2015). How should family interdependence be studied? The methodological issues of non-independence. TPM: Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 22, 169–180. doi: 10.4473/TPM22.2.1 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Maino, E. (2012). Problemi emotivo-comportamentali nei bambini tra 3 e 5 anni: assessment, fattori di rischio e fattori protettivi [Emotional and behavioural problems of children between 3 and 5 years of age: Assessment, risk, and protective factors]. (Doctoral dissertation, Catholic University of Milan, Italy) First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Margola, D., Molgora, S., Vignoles, V. L., Costa, G., & Travagin, G. (2011). Il concetto di sé. Per un sistema di codifica e di analisi del Twenty Statements Test (TST) [The self-concept. Towards a coding system and analysis of the Twenty Statements Test (TST)]. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 38, 937–958. doi: 10.1421/36119 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Menesini, E., & Tani, F. (2001). Contesto familiare e malessere evolutivo in soggetti di età scolare [Family environment and developmental maladjustment of school children]. Psicologia Clinica dello Sviluppo, 3, 451–468. doi: 10.1449/637 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Moos, R. H. (1990). Conceptual and empirical approaches to developing family-based assessment procedures: Resolving the case of the Family Environment Scale. Family Process, 29, 199–208. doi: 10.1111/j.1545-5300.1990.00199.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Moos, R. H., & Moos, B. S. (1981, 1986, 1994, 2009). Manual for the Family Environment Scale. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Moos, R. H., & Moos, B. S. (2002). Family Environment Scale manual and sampler set: Development, applications, and research. Palo Alto, CA: Mind Garden. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Moos, R. H., Insel, P. M., & Humphrey, B. (1974). Preliminary manual for Family Environment Scale, Work Environment Scale, Group Environment Scale. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Muthén, B. O. (1991). Multilevel factor analysis of class and student achievement components. Journal of Educational Measurements, 28, 338–354. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-3984.1991.tb00363.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Muthén, B. O. (1994). Multilevel covariance structure analysis. Sociological Methods & Research, 22, 376–398. doi: 10.1177/0049124194022003006 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2012). Mplus user’s guide. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Nezlek, J. B. (2008). An introduction to multilevel modeling for social and personality psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2, 842–860. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00059.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Olson, D. H. (2011). FACES IV and the circumplex model: Validation study. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 3, 64–80. doi: 10.1111/j.1752-0606.2009.00175.x First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Phipps, S., Dunavant, M., Lensing, S., & Rai, S. N. (2005). Psychosocial predictors of distress in parents of children undergoing stem cell or bone marrow transplantation. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 30, 139–153. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsi002 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Satorra, A., & Bentler, P. M. (2001). A scaled difference chi-square test statistic for moment structure analysis. Psychometrika, 66, 507–514. doi: 10.1007/BF02296192 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Schuler, T. A., Zaider, T., & Kissane, D. W. (2012). Family grief therapy: A vital model in oncology, palliative care, and bereavement. Family Matters, 90, 77–86. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Schwarz, G. (1978). Estimating the dimension of a model. The Annals of Statistics, 6, 461–464. doi: 10.1214/aos/1176344136 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Spiegel, D., Bloom, J. R., & Gottheil, E. (1983). Family environment as a predictor of adjustment to metastatic breast carcinoma. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 1, 33–44. doi: 10.1300/J077v01n01_04 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Untas, A., Rascle, N., Cosnefroy, O., Borteyrou, X., Saada, Y., & Koleck, M. (2011). Psychometric properties of the French adaptation of the Family Relationships Index (FRI). L’Encéphale, 37, 110–118. doi: 10.1016/j.encep.2010.04.008 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Varni, J. W., & Setoguchi, Y. (1993). Effects of parental adjustment on the adaptation of children with congenital or acquired limb deficiencies. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 14, 13–20. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Vess, J. D., Moreland, J. R., & Schwebel, A. I. (1985). An empirical assessment of the effects of cancer on family role functioning. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 3, 1–16. doi: 10.1300/J077v03n01_01 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Vianna, V. P. T., da Silva, E. A., & Souza-Formigoni, M. L. O. (2007). Portuguese version of the Family Environment Scale: Application and validation. Revista de Saúde Pública, 41, 419–426. doi: 10.1590/S0034-89102007000300014 First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Ziegler, M. (2014a). Editorial. Comments on item selection procedures. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 30, 1–2. doi: 10.1027/1015-5759/a000196 First citation in articleLinkGoogle Scholar

  • Ziegler, M. (2014b). Editorial. Stop and state your intentions! Let’s not forget the ABC of test construction. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 30, 239–242. doi: 10.1027/1015-5759/a000228 First citation in articleLinkGoogle Scholar