Family Relationship characteristics
Tolan‚ Gorman-Smith‚ Huesmann & Zelli‚ 1997
1. Family togetherness is very important.
2. Kids should value a close relationship with their family and not have to be asked to spend time at home.
3. No matter what‚ family members should stick together.
4. Family members should be able to speak their minds with one another.
5. Parents should teach their children what they need to know to make it in the world.
6. Children should always talk to their parents with respect.
7. Kids should obey their parents even when they don’t agree with them.
8. Parents should expect kids my age (kid’s ______age) to do some work around the house.
9. Kids my age (kid’s _____age) should call home if they think they might be late.
10. Kids my age (kid’s _____age) should clean-up for themselves without having to be told.
11. It’s O. K. to lie to someone if it will keep you out of trouble with them.
12. It’s O. K. to steal something from someone who is rich and can easily replace it.
13. It’s O. K. to skip school every once in a while.
14. It’s O. K. to fight if the other guy says bad enough things about you or your family.
15. My family knows what I mean when I say something.
16. My family and I have the same views about what is right and wrong.
17. I am able to let others in the family know how I really feel.
18. My family and I have the same views about being successful.
19. I’m available when others in the family want to talk to me.
20. I listen to what other family members have to say‚ even when I disagree.
21. Family members ask each other for help.
22. Family members like to spend free time with each other.
23. Family members feel very close to each other.
24. We can easily think of things to do together as a family.
25. Family members attend church‚ synagogue‚ Sunday school‚ or other religious activities fairly often.
26. We often talk about the religious meaning of Christmas‚ Passover‚ or other holidays.
27. My family expects too much of me.
28. My family doesn’t care about me.
29. I often don’t understand what other family members are saying.
30. If someone in the family has upset me‚ I keep it to myself.
31. I have trouble accepting someone else’s answer to a family problem.
32. My family doesn’t let me be myself.
33. I am tired of being blamed for family problems.
34. The children make the decisions in our family.
35. It is hard to identify the leaders in our family.
36. It is hard to tell who does which household chores.
37. I sometimes get headaches or other aches and pains after I fight with my family.
38. I sometimes use feeling sick to get out of doing something.
For Parent Version: In addition to the preceding items‚ the following item is added.
39. When you feel someone is out to get you‚ it’s better to get them first.
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- family relationship
- Deviant Beliefs
- antisocial behavior
This instrument can be found on pages 291-295 of Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes‚ Behaviors‚ and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools‚ available online at: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf
Point values are assigned as follows:
Items 1 to 14 and 39
Strongly disagree =1
Disagree=2
Agree=3
Strongly agree=4
Items 15 to 38
Not at all true=1
Hardly true=2
True a lot=3
Almost always or always true=4
This measure includes four subscales assessing aspects of family relationships‚ including structure‚ cohesion‚ beliefs about family‚ and deviant beliefs. All subscales are scored by computing means scores of the items listed.
Cohesion: Includes items 15‚ 16‚ 17‚ 18‚ 19‚ 20‚ 21‚ 22‚ 23‚ 24‚ 25 and 26. A maximum score of 4 indicates more cohesion among family members.
Beliefs about Family: Includes items 1‚ 2‚ 3‚ 4‚ 5‚ 6‚ 7‚ 8‚ 9 and 10. A maximum score of 4 indicates more positive beliefs about the family.
Structure: Includes items 27‚ 28‚ 29‚ 30‚ 31‚ 32‚ 33‚ 34‚ 35‚ 36‚ 37 and 38. A maximum score of 4 indicates more family structure.
Deviant Beliefs: Includes items 11‚ 12‚ 13 and 14 (and item 39 for Parent version). A maximum score of 4 indicates greater sense of deviant beliefs.
Tolan PH‚ Gorman-Smith D‚ Huesmann LR‚ Zelli A.Assessment of family relationship characteristics: a measure to explain risk for antisocial behavior anddepression among urban youth. PsychologicalAssessment 1997;9(3):212-223