Use of the Family Resource Scale in Children’s Mental Health: Reliability and Validity among Economically Diverse Samples

Abstract

The adequacy of a family's resources has implications for child and family service processes and outcomes. The field needs tools to assess resources in a manner relevant to children's services research. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the FRS among families caring for children who are receiving mental health services and to compare its measurement quality across samples that differ on economic variables. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported similar factor structures across samples, and internal consistency was equivalent. Findings from the regression analyses provided evidence of construct validity for the FRS. Overall, findings indicated that the FRS holds promise as a reliable and valid tool for assessing perceived adequacy of concrete resources among economically diverse families of children with emotional and behavioral disorders. However, the FRS could benefit from some refinements; those recommendations are discussed.

Beyond income: Material resources among drug users in economically-disadvantaged New York City neighborhoods

“…For the former, the scale items and overall score varied as expected by income source those with formal income sources (i.e., employment or public assistance) had more material resources than those who had informal income sources (i.e., informal economy or illegal income). Similarly and consistent with recent analyses of the full FRS (Brannan et al, 2006), those with higher legal incomes had more material resources than those with lower legal incomes. For construct validity, the scale also performed as expected – current drug users had fewer resources than former drugs users and non-drug users.…”

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Reactivity to Acute Stress: an Investigation into the Roles of Perceived Stress and Family Resources

“…Lower scores on the FRS indicate lower perceived adequacy of resources in the childhood home. In previous research, scores on the FRS demonstrated adequate internal consistency, split-half reliability, and criterion-related validity (Brannon et al, 2006; Dunst & Lee, 1987). The Cronbach’s alpha for scores produced by the family resources scale was .95 in this sample.…”

The moderating effect of relationships on intergenerational risk for infant neglect by young mothers

“…Original internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) of the instrument was .92; split-half reliability (Spearman-Brown) was .95; test-retest reliability (2-3 month interval) was .52. The FRS has good construct validity in samples of economically diverse families (Brannan, Manteuffel, Holden, & Heflinger, 2006).…”