Family Awareness Scale (FAS)

Abstract

The Family Awareness Scale (FAS) is a specialized psychological scale designed to measure various dimensions of family functioning and family dynamics. Developed by Kolevzon and Green in 1987, this instrument aims to capture the subjective perception of family members regarding internal structures, communication patterns, and emotional climate. The FAS is distinguished by its mixed-format structure, utilizing both multiple-choice questions concerning leadership and alliances, and multi-point Likert scales addressing aspects like conflict resolution and emotional clarity. It serves as a valuable tool in clinical practice and research for assessing systemic family properties.

Keywords

Family Dynamics, Family Assessment, Family Functioning, Leadership Structure, Communication Patterns, Conflict Resolution, Clinical Practice, Psychological Measurement

Authors

Kolevzon MS, Green RG

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Family Awareness Scale (FAS) is to provide a rapid, self-report assessment of core aspects of family dynamics. It is particularly useful in clinical settings to identify areas of dysfunction, such as unclear boundaries, rigid leadership, or poor communication patterns. By quantifying a respondent’s perception across dimensions like problem-solving ability, emotional climate, and conflict levels, clinicians can better understand the systemic issues requiring intervention.

The scale aids in mapping out the perceived power structure and coalitions within the family unit, offering insight into relational health beyond individual psychological symptoms. This awareness is foundational for effective family therapy and counseling.

Construct

The FAS measures the perceived level of awareness and insight that family members have regarding their own behaviors and the overarching structure of the family system. The core psychological construct revolves around the respondent’s subjective view of critical systemic variables, including:

• Power and Leadership: The degree to which leadership is shared, rigid, or absent.
• Coalitions and Alliances: The presence and frequency of “teaming up” (e.g., parent-child against others).
• Clarity and Communication: How clearly feelings and thoughts are expressed, and the openness to listening.
• Emotional Climate: The general atmosphere (e.g., warm, optimistic vs. pessimistic) and level of conflict.
• Responsibility and Insight: The willingness of members to acknowledge responsibility for their behavior.

Validity

Specific detailed studies on the validity of the Family Awareness Scale (FAS) are not explicitly detailed in the provided source material. However, instruments of this nature typically rely on several forms of validity evidence to ensure they accurately measure the intended constructs.

Content Validity appears strong, as the items directly address well-established dimensions of family functioning studied in systemic theory (e.g., leadership, alliances, communication). Furthermore, Construct Validity would ideally be demonstrated through correlations with established, validated measures of family cohesion and adaptability, though specific coefficients are unavailable based on this excerpt.

Reliability

Specific reliability coefficients (such as Cronbach’s Alpha for internal consistency or test-retest correlations) for the FAS are not provided in the summary reference. High reliability is crucial for any psychological scale used in clinical practice.

Given the scale’s multi-part structure—combining categorical items (Part 1) and continuous 9-point Likert scales (Part 2)—reliability assessment would require separate analyses for different components or a robust overall calculation of internal consistency across the dimensions measured in Part 2, ensuring items consistently measure the underlying concept of family awareness.

Factor Analysis

A formal description of the Factor Analysis results for the Family Awareness Scale (FAS) is absent from the immediate source documentation. Typically, a scale measuring multiple facets of a complex construct like family dynamics would undergo exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis to determine the underlying structure of the 14 items.

Based on the item content, the FAS likely yields multiple subscales or factors, potentially grouping items related to Leadership/Power (Q1, Q2, Q3), Communication/Clarity (Q6, Q8, Q9, Q10), and Emotional Climate/Conflict (Q11, Q12, Q14). Such analysis would confirm whether the scale is unidimensional or multidimensional, guiding proper scoring and interpretation.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale measuring perceived family dynamics.

Format: Mixed format. Part 1 uses multiple-choice descriptions (5 options per question). Part 2 uses 9-point bipolar Likert scales (e.g., Very difficult to Very easy; Always to Never).

Language Available: English (Original publication language).

Population Group: Families; generally administered to individual family members.

Age Group: Adults and potentially adolescents capable of understanding complex systemic concepts.

Population Details: Used primarily in clinical and research settings focused on family systems theory.

Test Methodology: Respondents select the statement or point on the 9-point scale that best describes their family unit.

Keywords

Family Systems Theory, Marital Therapy, Family Structure, Power Dynamics, Communication Assessment, Reliability, Factor Analysis

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not available in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not available in source material.

Correspondence Address: Not available in source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Family Awareness Scale (FAS) was introduced in 1987 by Kolevzon and Green. Information regarding current licensing fees or specific permissions required for clinical use is not detailed in the provided excerpt from the Fischer and Corcoran sourcebook. Researchers or practitioners are advised to contact the authors or the publishers of the original source material for permission and usage details.

Reference’s

Kolevzon MS; Green RG. (1987) Family awareness scales [FAS]. IN Fischer, Joel. Corcoran, Kevin J. (2007). Measures for Clinical Practice and research: A sourcebook. (4th ed.). NY. Oxford University Pr. Vol. 1, Page(s): 250-252.

The original reference material detailing the scale can be found in the sourcebook, “Measures for Clinical Practice and research: A sourcebook.”

Items of the Family Awareness Scale (FAS)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Part 1

Questions 1 and 2 each contain a group of statements that describe families for each question please check the one blank for the statement that most accurately describe your family.

1.

• _ No one person is really strong enough to be the leader in our family.
• _ Our family has one strong leader. The leader always makes the rules and enforces them.
• _ Although we have a strong leader‚ at times we talk over decisions.
• _ We frequently talk things over‚ but in the end one person is usually in change.
• _ Leadership is always shared between the adults in our family depending situation.

2.

• _ In our family it seems that a parent and a child are always “teaming or ganging up” against other family members.
• _ Frequently a parent and a child team up against other family members.
• _ The adults are usually on the same side.
• _ The adults are usually on the same side and generally they make a good learning team.
• _There is always a strong adult team in our family.

Part 2

Questions 3 to 14 describe certain ch‎aracteristics of all families on a 9-point scale.

3. How difficult is it for someone outside of your family to figure out which family members have power over other family members? Very difficult 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very easy

4. How good a judge are individual family members of their own behaviors within your family. Very good judge 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very poor judge

5. How good is your family at taking over and solving problems? Very good 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Very bad

6. How clearly do the members of your family tell one another about their feeling and Thought? Very clear 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Not clear

7. How frequently do the members of your family say or admit that they are responsible for their own past and present behavior!? Always 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Never

8. How often do the members of your family speak for one another or act like they can read each other’s minds? Frequently 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Never

9. How often are family members open and willing to listen to the statements of other family members? Usually 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Never

10. How often do family members share their feelings with one another? Always 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Never

11. How would you describe your family? Warm‚ Humorous‚ Optimistic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pessimistic

12. How much conflict is there generally in your family? Always 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Never

13. How often are family members sensitive to‚ and understanding of‚ each other’s feeling? Always 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Never

14. How many emotional problems does your family have compared to most families? Far more 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Far fewer