Family Context Assessment in Middle Childhood: A Tool Supporting Social, Educational, and Public Health Interventions

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jan 26;18(3):1094. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18031094.

Abstract

Quality of the family context has an important role in the physical and mental health of children; that is why it is important to have reliable and updated tools. This study aims to design and validate a new tool, the Haezi Etxadi Family Assessment Scale 7-11 (HEFAS 7-11), to assess family context quality in middle childhood. A sample of two cohorts of 772 Spanish families with children aged between 7 and 11 (M = 9.39 years; SD = 1.57; 51.2% girls), participated in the study. Results showed good psychometric properties for the instrument and the confirmatory factor analysis showed a five individual subscales structure: 1. Promotion of Cognitive and Linguistic Development (α = 0.79); 2. Promotion of Socio Emotional Development (α = 0.83); 3. Organization of Physical Environment and Social Context (α = 0.73); 4. Parental Stress & Conflict (α = 0.75); and 5. Parental Profile Fostering Child Development (α = 0.80). The association between HEFAS 7-11 and Trial Making Test was also analyzed to determine the concurrent validity of the instrument. The new scale shows its potential in the fields of research, social and educational, to know those variables that need to be promoted under the approach of positive parenting from a public health perspective.

Keywords: assessment; family context; middle childhood; positive parenting; validation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Educational Status
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Mental Health
  • Parenting*
  • Psychometrics
  • Public Health*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Surveys and Questionnaires