CULTURAL APPROPRIATENESS OF THE FAMILY ASSESSMENT DEVICE (FAD) IN THE CASE OF ETHNIC ARMENIAN ADOLESCENTS IN LEBANON

Background: The purpose of this study is to report on the cultural appropriateness of the 60-item Armenian version of the Family Assessment Device (FAD) among ethnic Armenian adolescents in the ethnically and religiously pluralist Lebanon. Method: A total of 558 Armenian adolescents in Grades 10, 11 and 12 completed the Armenian FAD scale and the Self-Family Closeness (SFC) scale in a randomized order. The internal consistencies and intercorrelations of the Armenian FAD domains were examined, as were their correlations with the SFC ratings. Results: The Armenian FAD and its General Functioning subscale showed excellent internal consistencies (alpha = 0.89 and alpha = 0.80, respectively), whereas the reliabilities were satisfactory for the family domains of Communication and Role functioning but less than satisfactory for the Affective Responsiveness, Problem Solving, Affective Involvement and Behaviour Control domains. The Armenian FAD scale and its subscales correlated with each other and with SFC ratings (r = -0.55 for Armenian FAD scale; r = -0.57 for General Functioning), and showed sensitivity to gender differences, females reporting better family functioning than males. Conclusions: Overall, the findings support the cultural appropriateness of the 12-item Armenian FAD General Functioning subscale and its advantage over the 60-item scale. The findings also suggest the need to rethink the items of the four Armenian FAD domains with low internal consistencies for their increased cultural relevance in the case of Armenian adolescents in Lebanon.