Abstract
Contextually validated measures of family functioning of parents with special needs are unavailable in Ethiopia. This study was aimed to validate the Amharic version of the Family Functioning Questionnaire (FFQ) with evidence from community samples of families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (n=72). Having translated the FFQ into Amharic, then the validation processes of assessing the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the instrument were conducted using experts’ judgments, factor analysis, and internal consistency measures. The face and content validity assessments resulted in a measure that lends itself to the construct it intends to measure. The principal component factor analysis brought out two factors ( problem-solving and personal goal) with the majority of items demonstrated a factor loading above 0.5. The convergent validity of the FFQ was demonstrated via the Dyadic Adjustment Scale in which the observed significant intercorrelations suggested a strong construct validity of the Amharic FFQ. The internal consistency of the scale was also good, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.82 for the whole scale and 0.91 and 0.82 for the problem-solving and personal goal sub-scales respectively. Hence, the Amharic version of the FFQ can be used for measuring the quality of family functioning in families of children with developmental disorders in the Ethiopian context.
Highlights
Is the basic unit of society and is an important setting for individual physical and mental growth
During the validation process, various activities had been carried out to attain an adapted tool that could effectively be applied for parents of children with developmental problems children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Evidence of convergent validity of the Family Functioning Questionnaire was demonstrated by a pattern of correlations with the relevant measures of marital satisfaction, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, that was in line with the theoretical predictions
Summary
Is the basic unit of society and is an important setting for individual physical and mental growth. A family affects the growth and development of every member and plays an important role in the normal operation process of the social system. A family function is determined by the characteristics of the family itself and depends on social demand (Dia, & Wang, 2015). According to Beavers and Hampson (2000), family functioning could be conceptualized along two dimensions: family competence and family-style. Competence refers to the family structure and capacity to adapt to changes through time. Style is about the style and quality of family interaction. A family within the harmonized structure with the capacity to adapt to changes and with stylistic quality interaction is regarded as a healthy functioning family
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