Assessment of the Psychometric Properties of the Family Management Measure

Objective This paper reports development of the Family Management Measure (FaMM) of parental perceptions of family management of chronic conditions. Method By telephone interview, 579 parents of children age 3 to 19 with a chronic condition (349 partnered mothers, 165 partners, 65 single mothers) completed the FaMM and measures of child functional status and behavioral problems and family functioning. Analyses addressed reliability, factor structure, and construct validity. Results Exploratory factor analysis yielded six scales: Child's Daily Life, Condition Management Ability, Condition Management Effort, Family Life Difficulty, Parental Mutuality, and View of Condition Impact. Internal consistency reliability ranged from .72 to .91, and test-retest reliability from .71 to .94. Construct validity was supported by significant correlations in hypothesized directions between FaMM scales and established measures. Conclusion Results support FaMM's; reliability and validity, indicating it performs in a theoretically meaningful way and taps distinct aspects of family response to childhood chronic conditions.