Abstract
BackgroundFamily functioning relies on different factors that are related to the individual characteristics of each member, the social context in which the family nucleus is integrated, and the internal and interpersonal family factors. The Short Version of the Family Assessment Measure-III, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, Twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support are among the most commonly employed self-report measures for the assessment of family functioning and related factors. Traditionally, these scales have been administered using paper-and-pencil versions. However, with increased access to the Internet, online administration of questionnaires has become more common. The present study aimed to validate an online version of each of the above-mentioned questionnaires in a heterogeneous sample of Italian healthy individuals.MethodsOne-hundred participants were recruited for each questionnaire. A crossover design was used in each validation. The minimum important difference (MID) was applied to evaluate the differences in the variances of the paper-and-pencil and online format scores. A MID >0.5 is a reasonable first approximation of a threshold of important change. Taking into account the cross over design, mean difference between pencil-and-paper and online versions, and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient were also estimated by mixed models.ResultsThe MID was <0.5 for all the instruments used. Therefore, no significant difference was observed between the score variances of the paper-and-pencil and online formats of all the questionnaires. Moreover, for each questionnaire the difference between the means of online and paper-and-pencil administrations scores (mean O-P) was calculated. We reported 95% confidence intervals that did not include the 0; therefore, mean (O-P) was not statistically significant.ConclusionsThe current findings indicate that the online versions of all the questionnaires we administered can be considered reliable tools for the assessment of family functioning and related factors.
Highlights
Is a complex, dynamic system that continuously evolves in search of a balance between the complementary tendencies of stability and transformation (Malagoli Togliatti and Catugno, 1996; Skinner et al, 2000; Pellerone et al, 2017)
We enrolled 100 participants who completed exclusively the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), 100 adolescent participants who completed the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) questionnaire, and 110 participants in total who filled in the HADS, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Family Assessment Measure (FAM)-III, and TAS20
No significant difference was observed between the score variances of the paper-and-pencil and online formats of the Brief FAM-III, DAS, IPPA, TAS-20, HADS, and MSPSS
Summary
Dynamic system that continuously evolves in search of a balance between the complementary tendencies of stability and transformation (Malagoli Togliatti and Catugno, 1996; Skinner et al, 2000; Pellerone et al, 2017) The functioning of this complex and delicate system relies on different factors, which are related with both the individual characteristics of each member and the social context in which the family nucleus is integrated, as well as with internal and interpersonal family factors, such as communication, cohesion, adaptability, quality of marital/parental–child relationships, and problem-solving abilities (Patterson and Garwick, 1994; McFarlane et al, 1995; Martinez and Forgatch, 2002; Walsh, 2003; Wood et al, 2017). The present study aimed to validate an online version of each of the above-mentioned questionnaires in a heterogeneous sample of Italian healthy individuals
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