The Family Quality of Life Scale (FQOL)

Abstract

The Family Quality of Life Scale (FQOL) is a psychological instrument developed by researchers associated with the Beach Center on Disability to quantify a family’s perceived satisfaction with various aspects of their collective life. The FQOL was initially designed for use with families of children with disabilities (ages birth through 21) but is currently being studied for broader application. This 25-item, self-report inventory utilizes a 5-point Likert-type scale to measure satisfaction across five core domains: Family Interaction, Parenting, Emotional Well-being, Physical/Material Well-being, and Disability-Related Support. The FQOL is intended exclusively as a research tool for program evaluation and outcome measurement, and should not be used for diagnostic or eligibility determination purposes.

Keywords

Family Quality of Life, FQOL, Quality of Life, Disability Support, Family Assessment, Psychometrics, Likert Scale, Beach Center on Disability.

Authors

Beach Center on Disability (Developer), Ann P. Turnbull, H. Rutherford Turnbull III, L. Hoffman, J. Marquis, D. Poston, J. A. Summers.

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Family Quality of Life Scale (FQOL) is to measure the perceived level of satisfaction experienced by family members concerning crucial components of their life together. It serves as a comprehensive assessment of family outcomes, making it valuable for informing policy makers and service providers working with children and families.

As a research tool, the FQOL is typically employed to measure the effectiveness of interventions (using pre- and post-test designs), evaluate programs or services, or function as a dependent or independent variable in academic studies. It is important to note that the FQOL is specifically excluded from being used as a clinical measure for diagnostic purposes or for determining or denying eligibility for services.

Construct

The FQOL measures the complex, multidimensional construct of Family Quality of Life. This construct reflects the degree to which a family’s needs are met, family members enjoy life together, and family members have the opportunity to pursue and achieve goals that are important to them.

The final scale operationalizes this construct across five distinct, empirically validated domains, derived from extensive qualitative inquiry and subsequent factor analysis:

• Family Interaction
• Parenting
• Emotional Well-being
• Physical/Material Well-being
• Disability-Related Support

Validity

The validity of the FQOL structure was rigorously examined through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) across multiple rounds of study. The final 25-item, five-factor structure was confirmed, demonstrating strong model fit. Specifically, the subscale-level FQOL structure showed excellent fit statistics: χ²(5) = 3.41, p=.63, CFI = 1.00, and RMSEA = .00.

Convergent validity was established by correlating the FQOL subscales with other relevant existing measures. The satisfaction mean for the Family Interaction subscale correlated significantly with the Family APGAR (r = .68, p < .001), a measure of family functioning. Additionally, the Physical/Material Well-Being domain showed a significant correlation with the Family Resource Scale (r = .60, p < .001), supporting the scale’s ability to measure related constructs.

Reliability

The FQOL scale demonstrates high internal consistency and stability over time. Internal consistency, measured using Cronbach’s alpha, was excellent for both Importance ratings (α = .94) and Satisfaction ratings (α = .88) across the subscales.

Test-retest reliability was also assessed for both importance and satisfaction responses for each subscale, with all correlations proving statistically significant (p < .01). For the Satisfaction ratings, correlations between time points included: Family Interaction (.75), Parenting (.71), Emotional Well-being (.76), Physical/Material Well-being (.77), and Disability-Related Support (.60).

Factor Analysis

The development process began with an extensive qualitative inquiry resulting in an initial framework of ten domains. A pilot version of the scale containing 112 items was administered to a large sample (N=1197 individuals from 459 families). An initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) produced a 5-factor solution consisting of Family Interaction, Parenting, General Resources, Health and Safety, and Support for Persons with Disabilities.

Subsequent validation studies utilized Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to refine the tool. The final FQOL Scale was distilled into 25 items that measure five distinct domains: Family Interaction, Parenting, Emotional Well-being, Physical/Material Well-being, and Disability-Related Support, confirming the robust factor structure of the instrument.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report inventory; Non-clinical research tool

Format: 25 items rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = very dissatisfied; 3 = neither satisfied nor dissatisfied; 5 = very satisfied).

Language Available: English (Primary developmental language).

Population Group: Families, particularly those supporting children or adults with disabilities. The original focus was families of children with disabilities ages birth through 21.

Age Group: Applicable to family members/caregivers of individuals across the lifespan (birth through adulthood), with the original target population being families of children ages birth through 21.

Population Details: Respondents are asked to consider their core family unit—those who think of themselves as family and support each other regularly—and rate their satisfaction over the past 12 months.

Test Methodology: Quantitative measurement of perceived satisfaction across five domains of family life.

Keywords

Family Interaction, Emotional Well-being, Physical Well-being, Disability-Related Support, Family Resource Scale, Convergent Validity, Confirmatory Factor Analysis.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source material.

Correspondence Address: Beach Center on Disability, Lawrence, KS, USA.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Family Quality of Life Scale (FQOL) is available free of charge for use as a research tool. Key psychometric validation was published in 2006 (Hoffman et al.), following earlier developmental work (2003). The scale is accessible through the Beach Center on Disability website: https://beachcenter.lsi.ku.edu/beach-families.

Reference’s

• Beach Center on Disabilities. (2006). Family Quality of Life Scale. Beach Center on Disabilities, Lawrence, KS, USA.
• Hoffman, L., Marquis, J.G., Poston, D.J., Summers, J.A., & Turnbull, A. (2006). Assessing family outcomes: Psychometric evaluation of the family quality of life scale. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68, 1069-1083.
• Hu, X., Summers, J. A., Turnbull, A., & Zuna, N. (2011). The quantitative measurement of family quality of life: A review of available instruments. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 55, 1098-1114.
• Park, J., Hoffman, L., Marquis, J., Turnbull, A.P., Poston, D., Mannan, H., Wang, M., & Nelson, L. (2003). Toward assessing family outcomes of service delivery: Validation of a family quality of life survey. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 47(4/5), 367-384.
• Poston, D., Turnbull, A., Park, J., Mannan, H., Marquis, J., & Wang, M. (2003). Family quality of life outcomes: A qualitative inquiry launching a long-term research program. Mental Retardation, 41(5), 313-328.
• Summers, J.A., Poston, D.J., Turnbull, A.P., Marquis, J., Hoffman, L., Mannan, H., & Wang, H. (2005). Conceptualizing and measuring family quality of life. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 49(10), 777-783.
• Turnbull, A.P. (2004). President’s address 2004: Wearing two hats”: Morphed perspectives on family quality of life. Mental Retardation, 42(5), 383-399.
• Wang, M., Mannan, H., Poston, J., Turnbull, A.P., & Summers, J.A. (2004). Parents’ perceptions of advocacy activities and their impact on family quality of life. Research & Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 29(2), 144-155.

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Items of the The Family Quality of Life Scale (FQOL)

The Family Quality of Life Scale is a 25-item inventory where respondents rate their satisfaction with each item on a 5-point scale (1 = very dissatisfied to 5 = very satisfied). The items are organized into five domains:

Family Interaction:

• My family enjoys spending time together.
• My family members talk openly with each other.
• My family solves problems together.
• My family members support each other to accomplish goals.
• My family members show that they love and care for each other.
• My family is able to handle life’s ups and downs.

Parenting:

• Family members help the children learn to be independent.
• Family members help the children with schoolwork and activities.
• Family members teach the children how to get along with others.
• Adults in my family teach the children to make good decisions.
• Adults in my family know other people in the children’s lives (i.e. friends, teachers).
• Adults in my family have time to take care of the individual needs of every child.

Emotional Well-being:

• My family has the support we need to relieve stress.
• My family members have friends or others who provide support.
• My family members have some time to pursue their own interests.
• My family has outside help available to us to take care of special needs of all family members.

Physical / Material Well-being:

• My family members have transportation to get to the places they need to be.
• My family gets dental care when needed.
• My family gets medical care when needed.
• My family has a way to take care of our expenses.
• My family feels safe at home, work, school, and in our neighborhood.

Disability-Related Support:

• My family member with special needs has support to make progress at school or workplace.
• My family member with special needs has support to make progress at home.
• My family member with special needs has support to make friends.
• My family has a good relationship with the service providers who work with our family member with a disability.