Description:
The self-report Family Support Scale (FSS) measures
parents’ satisfaction with the support they receive
in raising a young child. The scale consists of 18 items covering
such sources of support as the immediate family, relatives,
friends and others in the family’s social network, social
organizations, and specialized and generic professional services.
In addition, the scale provides 2 open items for parents to
assess other sources of support not included in the 18 items.
The parent rates each source of support on a 5-point Likert
scale (ranging from not at all helpful (1) to extremely helpful
(5)).
Uses of Information: Providers can use the FSS scale results
to identify the areas in a family’s support network
that need to be strengthened or accessed to better meet the
families’ needs. The results can also be used to initiate
inquiries into issues related to the support network. The
FSS might be useful as a pretest/posttest measure of perceived
helpfulness of the program to the family (in relation to the
family’s level of involvement in the program). The book
provides a number of case studies to illustrate how the information
can be used.
Reliability: (1) Internal consistency reliability: coefficient
alpha (on the 18-item scale) =.77; (2) Split-half reliability
(using the Spearman-Brown formula): .75 (3) Test-retest reliability
(1 month interval): correlation was .75 for the average correlation
among the 18 scale items and .91 for the total scale scores.
Test-retest reliability (18 month interval): correlation was
.41 for the 18 scale items and .47 for the total scale scores.
Validity: (1) Criterion validity:
The authors compared the results on the FSS scale to results
on the Parent-Child Play Scale (Dunst 1986) and selected subscales
on the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (Holroyd 1985).
The FSS total scale score was consistently, but weakly, related
to a number of parent and family outcomes, including personal
well-being (correlation = .28), the integrity of the family
unit (correlation = .18), parent perceptions of child behavior
(correlation = .19), and opportunities to engage in parent-child
play (correlation = .40) (Dunst 1985).
Method of Scoring: The parent answers how helpful various
sources of support have been in terms of raising his/her child(ren)
by circling Not Available, Not At All Helpful, Sometimes Helpful,
Generally Helpful, Very Helpful, and Extremely Helpful.
Interpretability: A parent’s responses are used to
open up discussion as to why they use or do not use various
means of support and resources. The book provides a Family
Support Plan form and a Profile of Family Needs and Support
form for the agency to use. The needs and support form can
be used to record the names of providers and the resources
they are expected to provide to help the family address an
identified need. The family support form enables the agency
to mobilize resources to address needs and to monitor the
progress of the intervention.
Training Support: None described.
However, a second book published by Brookline Books, entitled
“Supporting & Strengthening Families: Methods Strategies
and Practices” is a collection of papers updating the
thinking and practices described in “Enabling and Empowering
Families,” and building and elaborating upon the model
described in the earlier book.
Adaptations/Special Instructions for Individuals with Disabilities:
None described.
Report Preparation Support: None described. References:
Dunst, C.J. “Rethinking Early Intervention.”
Analysis and Intervention Developmental Disabilities, vol.
5, 1985, pp. 165-201.
Dunst, C.J. A Rating Scale for Assessing Parent-Child Play
Opportunities. Unpublished scale. Morganton, NC: Family, Infant
and Preschool Program at Western Carolina Center, 1986.
Dunst, Carl, Carol Trivette, and Angela Deal. Enabling and
Empowering Families: Principles & Guidelines for Practice.
Cambridge: Brookline Books, 1988.
Dunst, Carl, Carol Trivette, and Angela Deal. Supporting
and Strengthening Families: Methods, Strategies, and Practices.
Newton: Brookline Books, 1994.
Holroyd, J. Questionnaire on Resources and Stress Manual.
Unpublished scale. Los Angeles: University of California,
Neuropsychiatric Institute, Department of Psychiatric and
Behavioral Sciences, 1985.
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