Adolescent Psychopathology and Family Functioning

Objective: To establish the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of Family Adaptation and Cohesion Scale ( CFACS) and to examine the association between psychopathology and family functioning among young adolescents. Methods: We recruited 581 students in grade 7 from 6 junior high schools in the greater Taipei area using multistage sampling method. The student participants and their parents completed the CFACS and parents also completed the Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL). Fifty-six student participants and their parents were re-administered the questionnaire two weeks later. Forty-two clinical subjects with at least one mental disorder and 86 normal controls were recruited to validate CFACS. Results: The test-retest reliability and internal consistency for child reports ( Pearson correlation  =.72 ~ .82, intraclass correlation ICC = .68 ~ .80, Cronbach’s  = .85 ~ .90) and for paternal reports ( = .63 ~ .66, ICC = .63 ~ .66, Cronbach’s  = .80 ~ .90) indicated that the subscales of the CFACS are stable over time and measure the same dimension. The parent- child agreement was low, and parents tended to report better family adjustment and greater family cohesion than their children. Parents of students with Delinquent or Aggressive Behaviors reported to have lower family adaptation and adjustment. In addition, students with Anxious/ Depressed, Somatic Complaints, or Withdrawal tended to report lower family cohesion. Clinical subjects with at least one mental disorder had greater difference between ideal and real condition of family adaptation and cohesion and tended to be dissatisfied with their family functioning. subjects with at least one mental disorder had greater difference between ideal and real condition of family