Investigating the validity of a multirater assessment of family functioning in China

The validity of a multirater assessment of family functioning in 1-child Chinese families was examined using the Relationship-Specific Chinese Family Assessment Instrument (RS-CFAI), developed based on the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument (Shek, 2001, 2002). Data were collected from 506 families in Beijing consisting of 2 parents and 1 child. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) models and the dyadic-level CFA models were tested in the framework of the multitrait multirater strategy to demonstrate the validity of the RS-CFAI. The results indicated that there are 3 factors (activity, affect, and control) in the RS-CFAI within different family subsystems. The social relations model (SRM) was also used to explain the characteristics of the 1-child family, providing evidence of the convergent and discriminative validity of the RS-CFAI. The goodness-of-fit of the SRM and CFA models indicates that the RS-CFAI is a valid tool for assessing family functioning among 1-child families in China.