INITIAL PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF GENERAL FUNCTIONING OF FAMILY SCALE (URDU VERSION)

Abstract

The Family Functioning Scale has been widely utilized in the literature to determine whether a family is healthy or dysfunctional. The current study aimed to translate the Family Functioning scale into the Urdu language and find out its initial psychometric properties on the Pakistani population. The measure was translated from English to the Urdu language by following standardized procedures. Cross-language validation was assessed by comparing the scores of a bilingual sample, (n=40) of 20 males and 20 females (Mage = 15.9, SD = 1.42). Urdu translated version of GFS was administered on 360 individuals from the general population of Faisalabad with 190 men (52.8%) and 170 (47.2%) women age ranged between 12 to 56 years (Mage = 21.68, SD = 7.12). Convergent validity of the General Functioning Scale was assessed by correlating the scores of GFS and the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale, while Satisfaction with Life Scale, Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support, and the Subjective Happiness Scale were used to check discriminant validity. Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient and Pearson- Product Moment Correlation Coefficient were applied to determine the internal consistency, convergent, and discriminant validity of the translated measure respectively. The results revealed that the Urdu version of GFS has good internal consistency (α = .80). GFS was significantly positively correlated with CHAOS while a significant negative correlation was found between family dysfunctioning and family support, life satisfaction, and happiness. Findings reflect that the Urdu version of the GF is a psychometrically sound measure to assess the family functioning in the Pakistani cultural context. Keywords: Family Dysfunctioning, Urdu, Psychometric Validation, Pakistan