The Family-of-Origin Scale: A Psychometric Review and Factor Analytic Study

Abstract

The Family-of-Origin Scale (FOS) is a 40-item rating scale in which respondents provide a retrospective assessment of the family in which they were raised. While the FOS was found to be psychometrically sound, there has been a history of controversy about the scale’s factor structure. A recent study published in this journal (Petrogiannis & Softas-Nall, 2010) found a seven factor solution for the FOS. After reviewing the research on the FOS, including factor analytic studies, we present and interpret the results of a factor analysis based on data obtained from a U.S. university sample in which nine factors emerged.