Family Environment Scale (FES)

Abstract

The Family Environment Scale (FES) is a seminal and widely utilized instrument in psychological assessment designed to measure the perceived social climate of a family unit. Developed by Rudolph H. Moos, the scale assesses how family members view their own functioning across ten specific dimensions, which are grouped into three overarching categories: Relationship, Personal Growth, and System Maintenance. The FES provides researchers and clinicians with a robust, quantitative method for understanding the complex dynamics that influence individual behavior, adjustment, and well-being within the home environment, making it invaluable for family therapy and sociological research.

Keywords

Family Environment Scale (FES), Moos, Family Dynamics, Social Climate, Cohesion, Conflict, Psychological Assessment, Family Relations, Achievement Orientation, System Maintenance.

Authors

Rudolph H. Moos, Barbara S. Moos.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Family Environment Scale is to provide a comprehensive, multidimensional measure of the social and psychological characteristics of the family environment as perceived by its members. It serves to quantify the atmosphere, interactions, and relational patterns within the household.

The scale is employed extensively in clinical settings, research, and educational contexts to identify sources of stress, areas of congruence or divergence in perception among family members, and potential targets for therapeutic intervention. By measuring both the real and ideal family environments, the FES helps articulate how members perceive the levels of support, control, and personal freedom present in their home life.

Construct

The FES measures the social environment of the family through 10 distinct subscales, which are conceptually grouped into three major domains:

• Relationship Dimensions: These focus on the degree of connection and support among family members. They include Cohesion (the degree of commitment and support), Expressiveness (the extent to which members are encouraged to act openly and express feelings directly), and Conflict (the amount of openly expressed anger, aggression, and disagreement).
• Personal Growth Dimensions: These assess the opportunities available for individual development within the family. They include Independence, Achievement Orientation, Intellectual-Cultural Orientation, Active-Recreational Orientation, and Moral-Religious Emphasis.
• System Maintenance Dimensions: These address the structure and organization of the family unit. They include Organization (the degree to which planning and structured activities are emphasized) and Control (the extent to which rules and procedures are used to govern behavior).

Each of the ten subscales contains nine items, resulting in a total of 90 True/False items.

Validity

The validity of the FES has been rigorously examined across numerous studies since its inception. Content validity is strongly supported by the scale’s adherence to the theoretical framework proposed by Moos regarding three essential dimensions of human environments: relationship, personal development, and system maintenance.

Construct validity is demonstrated through consistent correlations between FES scores and external measures of family satisfaction, mental health outcomes, and behavioral adjustment. For example, high scores on the Cohesion subscale typically correlate positively with measures of psychological well-being and adaptive functioning, whereas elevated Conflict scores are reliably associated with indicators of family distress and psychopathology. Criterion validity is often established by comparing FES scores among families undergoing therapy versus those in non-clinical samples.

Reliability

The reliability of the FES subscales is generally considered acceptable for a measure of social environments. Studies examining internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) typically report values ranging from 0.60 to 0.78 across the ten subscales, confirming that the items within each dimension measure a unified construct. The relationship dimensions (Cohesion, Expressiveness, Conflict) often exhibit the highest internal consistency.

Test-retest reliability, which measures the stability of scores over time, has been reported to range from 0.68 to 0.86 over four- to eight-week intervals. This stability indicates that the FES provides reliable measurements of the perceived family environment, which is generally expected to be a relatively enduring characteristic.

Factor Analysis

Although the FES is structured to measure 10 distinct dimensions, factor analysis results often support the underlying three-domain model more strongly than the strict 10-factor structure. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses generally confirm the distinctiveness of the three broad domains (Relationship, Personal Growth, and System Maintenance).

While the distinctiveness of the ten subscales is generally supported, some studies, particularly those involving non-Western cultures or specific clinical populations, have occasionally resulted in fewer than ten factors. This suggests a degree of empirical overlap between certain subscales, such as Organization and Control, or between the various Personal Growth dimensions, emphasizing that while conceptually distinct, family factors are highly interrelated.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological assessment inventory.

Format: 90 items, True/False response format.

Language Available: English, Spanish, French, and numerous other translations globally.

Population Group: Families and individuals within families.

Age Group: Typically utilized with adolescents (age 11+) and adults.

Population Details: Used with both clinical populations (e.g., families seeking therapy, families dealing with mental illness) and non-clinical/normative samples for research purposes.

Test Methodology: The scale is usually administered in three forms: the Real Form (measures the current environment), the Ideal Form (measures the preferred environment), and the Expected Form (measures the environment expected in a new setting).

Keywords

Family Assessment, Psychometrics, Social Climate, Family Relations, System Maintenance, Expressiveness, Cohesion, Organization, Control, Independence.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A

Correspondence Address: Consulting Psychologists Press (Mind Garden, Inc.)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Family Environment Scale is proprietary and copyrighted by Rudolph H. Moos, requiring permission and licensing for use, typically obtained through Mind Garden, Inc. The original test was published in 1974, with the third edition of the manual published in 1994. Researchers interested in utilizing the scale should consult the publisher regarding applicable fees and licensing agreements.

A PDF of a related dissertation utilizing the FES can be downloaded here: https://shareok.org/bitstream/handle/11244/11069/Brannon_okstate_0664M_12678.pdf?sequence=1

Reference’s

• Moos, R. H. (1974). Family environment scale. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
• Moos, R. R., & Moos, B. S. (1981). Family environment scale manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
• Moos, R.H., & Moos, B. S; (1994). Family Environment Scale manual (3rd ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
• Boyd, Candice P., Eleonora Gullone., Gillian Needleman., Trudy Burt (July 2004). “The Family Environment Scale: Reliability and Normative Data for an Adolescent Sample”. Family Process. Family Process Institute. 36 (4): 369–373.
• Pursell, Gwen Renae. (2002). “The effects of childhood social competence on young adults interpersonal competence in dyadic and family relations: an exploratory analysis”. University of Richmond, M.A. Theses.

Additional resources for the FES can be found at: http://www.mindgarden.com/96-family-environment-scale and http://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1839&context=ma‎sters-theses.

Items of the Family Environment Scale (FES)

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

1.    Family members really help and support one another.
2.    Family members often keep their feelings to themselves.
3.    We fight a lot in our family.
4.    We don’t do things on our own very often in our family.
5.    We feel it is important to be the best at whatever you do.
6.    We often talk about political and social problems.
7.    We spend most weekends and evenings at home.
8.    Family members attend church‚ synagogue‚ or Sunday School fairly often.
9.    Activities in our family are pretty carefully planned.
10.Family members are rarely ordered around.
11.We often seem to be killing time at home.
12.We say anything we want to around home.
13.Family members rarely become openly angry.
14.In our family‚ we are strongly encouraged to be independent.
15.Getting ahead in life is very important to our family.
16.We rarely go to lectures‚ plays or concerts.
17.Friends often come over for dinner or to visit.
18.We don’t say prayers in our family.
19.We are generally very neat and orderly.
20.There are very few rules to follow in our family.
21.We put a lot of energy into what we do at home.
22.It’s hard to “blow off steam” at home without upsetting somebody.
23.Family members sometimes get so angry they throw things.
24.We think things out for ourselves in our family.
25.How much money a person makes is not very important to us.
26.Learning about new and different things is very important in our family.
27.Nobody in our family is active in sports‚ Little League‚ bowling‚ etc.
28.We often talk about the religious meaning of Christmas‚ Passover‚ or other holidays.
29.It’s often hard to find things when you need them in our household.
30.There is one family member who makes most of the decisions.
31.There is a feeling of togetherness in our family.
32.We tell each other about our personal problems.
33.Family members hardly ever lose their tempers.
34.We come and go as we want to in our family.
35.We believe in competition and “may the best man win.”
36.We are not that interested in cultural activities.
37.We often go to movies‚ sports events‚ camping‚ etc.
38.We don’t believe in heaven or hell.
39.Being on time is very important in our family.
40.There are set ways of doing things at home.
41.We rarely volunteer when something has to be done at home.
42.If we feel like doing something on the spur of the moment we often just pick up and go.
43.Family members often criticize each other.
44.There is very little privacy in our family.
45.We always strive to do things just a little better the next time.
46.We rarely have intellectual discussions.
47.Everyone in our family has a hobby or two.
48.Family members have strict ideas about what is right and wrong.
49.People change their minds often in our family.
50.There is a strong emphasis on following rules in our family.
51.Family members really back each other up.
52.Someone usually gets upset if you complain in our family.
53.Family members sometimes hit each other.
54.Family members almost always rely on themselves when a problem comes up.
55.Family members rarely worry about job promotions‚ school grades‚ etc.
56.Someone in our family plays a musical instrument.
57.Family members are not very involved in recreational activities outside work or school.
58.We believe there are some things you have to take on faith.
59.Family members make sure their rooms are neat.
60.Everyone has an equal say in family decisions.
61.There is very little group spirit in our family.
62.Money and paying bills is openly talked about in our family.
63.If there’s a disagreement in our family‚ we try hard to smooth things over and keep the peace.
64.Family members strongly encourage each other to stand up for their rights.
65.In our family‚ we don’t try that hard to succeed.
66.Family members often go to the library.
67.Family members sometimes attend courses or take lessons for some hobby or interest (outside of school).
68.In our family each person has different ideas about what is right and wrong.
69.Each person’s duties are clearly defined in our family.
70.We can do whatever we want to in our family.
71.We really get along well with each other.
72.We are usually careful about what we say to each other.
73.Family members often try to one-up or out-do each other.
74.It’s hard to be by yourself without hurting someone’s feelings in our household.
75.”Work before play” is the rule in our family.
76.Watching T.V. is more important than reading in our family.
77.Family members go out a lot.
78.The Bible is a very important book in our home.
79.Money is not handled very carefully in our family.
80.Rules are pretty inflexible in our household.
81.There is plenty of time and attention for everyone in our family.
82.There are a lot of spontaneous discussions in our family.
83.In our family‚ we believe you don’t ever get anywhere by raising your voice.
84.We are not really encouraged to speak up for ourselves in our family.
85.Family members are often compared with others as to how well they are doing at work or school.
86.Family members really like music‚ art‚ and literature.
87.Our main form of entertainment is watching T.V. or listening to the radio.
88.Family members believe that if you sin you will be punished.
89.Dishes are usually done immediately after eating.
90.You can’t get away with much in our family.