Measuring Early Family Experiences: The Validity and Reliability of the Chinese Family-of-Origin Scale (FOS)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop an appropriate Chinese instrument for measuring early family experiences. By using a 5-step back translation procedure, the Family-of-Origin Scale (FOS) was translated into Chinese and the validity and reliability of the Chinese FOS were tested as well. Factor analyses showed that 95% of the original FOS items were grouped into the same categories as the Chinese version with Taiwan subjects. The estimate of internal consistency of the Chinese FOS by Cronbach’s alpha was .9336. A split-half reliability of .9168 was obtained from the scores of the 233 research participants. It was concluded that the Chinese version of the FOS has potential value in applied research.