1

ABSTRACT

In the digital world of today, everything is virtual, changed, developed and a decade ago within a

second. This movement is fifty times faster compared to human development thus understanding

the consequences of media is major area of focus in this study. 22 school going children (6-12 year

old) were interviewed on their media use along with recording their family experience and func-

tioning in a self-report manner. Correlational findings suggested a low negative correlational co-

efficient of 0.192, suggesting of an inverse relationship between the two variables.

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Media Exposure and Parent-Child Relationship

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Acknowledgments

First and foremost Dr. Nandita Chaube, our course coordinator for helping me burn the midnight

lamp, she suggested me the right thing to do everywhere I went wrong. Her guidance and support

throughout the study. Secondly, Dr. Sagar Karia, an MD in Psychiatry and an assistant professor

at LTMGH, Sion who motivated me to choose this topic and created an interest in the field of

child psychology. With such guides and patience, it was possible to do this research in such less

time in the best possible manner. I would also like to thank all the participants for being patient

and actively contributing to this study.

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Table of Contents

List of Tables

1. Population Distribution

2. Correlation co-efficient between Media Exposure & General Family Functioning.

3. Mean No. of hours spent on each device.

List of Figures

1. Relationship between Total Hours spent on Media (Media Exposure) & General Family

Functioning.

2. Mean No. of hours spent on each device

Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................6

Background of the Study ...............................................................................................7

Problem Statement .........................................................................................................7

Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................8

Nature of the Study ........................................................................................................8

Definitions......................................................................................................................9

Rationale ........................................................................................................................9

Assumptions...................................................................................................................9
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Scope and Delimitations ................................................................................................9

Chapter 2: Literature Review .........................................................................................10

Chapter 3: Method ...........................................................................................................14

Sample......................................................................................................................... 14

Procedure .................................................................................................................... 15

Tools ........................................................................................................................... 15

Chapter 4: Results............................................................................................................17

Chapter 5: Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations ......................................20

Interpretation of Findings ............................................................................................22

Conclusion ...................................................................................................................22

Limitations of the Study...............................................................................................22

Recommendations ........................................................................................................23

References .........................................................................................................................24

Appendix A: Demographic Details...................................................................................28

Appendix B: Family Assessment Device………………………………………………. 30

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Chapter 1

Introduction

India today ranks 2nd on human population. This population is constantly interacting with tech-

nology and development which has vast outreach and mobility. With the growing pace, the virtual

world has made distance an ancient concept, however, it has also ensured that one tends to feel

helpless and stuck in absence of this technology.

This feeling therefore influences the relationship that individuals share amongst themselves on

daily basis, making the ones’ who are near, distant and the ones’ who are far, virtually close.

A fellow named Ray Bradbury mentioned that, “The television is 'real'. It is immediate, it has

dimension. It tells you what to think and blasts it in. It must be right. It seems so right. It rushes

you on so quickly to its own conclusions your mind hasn't time to protest, 'What nonsense!'.”

On the words shared by Mr. Ray, it is evident that as the technology is upgrading, so are humans,

however humans are designing tool to make their life easier which can in future cause major risk.

Technology today is linked to the World Wide Web, less than half a century old has enhanced and

grown to no bounds. Everything is available a click away in form of information, communication,

food, travel, learning etc. It can be said the growing dependence on Internet can lead to numerous

inter-intra personal issues. In an article on media exposure and parenting, it is discussed how

obesity, attention disorders, poor self-image, violent or cruel behavior, and increased inability to

focus and listen are hallmarks of the media exposed child. This study attempts to understand the

influence of media on parent-child relationship of school going children.

 7

Background of the Study

Parent media use also has the potential to interrupt or displace family interactions and routines,

which are protective for child development, school success, and resilience. For example, studies

have found a decrease in parent-child verbal interactions and play when the television is on (Sarah

M. Coyne et al). Kaspersky Lab’s Research shared similar findings where parents admitted to

damaging their relationships with their children as a result of them being seen in a compromising

situation on social media. American academy of Pediatrics also reported that infants and toddlers

should not be exposed to media until the age of 2. Yet another study suggested that over-exposure

to media leads to poor vocabulary, cognitive reasoning, working memory etc. It isn’t just the social

media that is causing hindrances in one’s life. Exposure to any kind of media has shown cognitive

depreciation and inappropriate expression of emotions. These studies shed light on how the media

is controlling and influencing our lives causing significant damage in learning and understanding.

This study focuses on the amount of media exposure and relationship shared with parents are

related in the current context and culture in school going children.

Problem Statement

Konjin (2018) shares that media was supposedly used for entertainment purposes, however the

increasing trend has made lives vague, confused and it is extremely difficult to draw the bounda-

ries. Boundaries here refers to what should one use media for and not. A need to remain connected

and desire to have fun in isolation yet updating the same on social media creates an image of

double minds or confused ideas. Thereby, this study throws a light on whether the children today

are exposed to media to the extent where this confusion makes a difference in their daily life.
 8

Purpose of the Study

Media is the plural form of medium, which (broadly speaking) describes any channel of commu-

nication. This can include anything from printed paper to digital data, and encompasses art, news,

educational content and numerous other forms of information. This movement is fifty times faster

compared to human development thus understanding the consequences of media is major area of

focus in this study. Exposure to various forms of media (Television, Internet, Video games etc.)

were explored in this study. Family functioning and family experiences were also recorded using

McMaster Family Functioning Scale by Epstein et.al and Childhood Family Experiences scale by

Vogt et.al. Correlation between media use and family functioning were obtained to check whether

change in media use affected family functioning.

Nature of the Study

A vast literature focuses on the media exposure and its effect on adolescents, their relationships,

academics, emotional intelligence, self-esteem etc. After a spate of college suicides, the research-

ers at Stanford University coined the phrase “duck syndrome” meaning when a duck appears to

glide effortlessly across a pond while below the surface its feet work frantically, invisibly strug-

gling to stay afloat. This was in reference to how students project a perfect image on social media

but behind the digital curtain they are struggling emotionally. The study intends to find presence

of similar condition in school going children.

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Definitions

Media Exposure: “Media is the plural form of medium, which (broadly speaking) describes any

channel of communication. This can include anything from printed paper to digital data, and en-

compasses art, news, educational content and numerous other forms of information.”

Family-Functioning: “Family functioning refers to the social and structural properties of the

global family environment. Healthy family functioning occurs within a family environment with

clear communication, well-defined roles, cohesion, and good affect regulation.”

Assumptions

It was assumed that the target population aged between 6 to 12 years of age, which is considerably

very young, however, existent and very much present in the environment. To ensure complete

understanding, researcher was personally present and recited the items themselves for the child to

avoid misinterpretation or random answering. It was also assumed that in urban setting, the expo-

sure to media is consistent and constant.

Rationale

The rationale of the research is to track the media usage from early childhood so that one can take

preventive measures to avoid adverse effects later experienced in life.

Scope and Delimitations

Target population is school going children ageing between 6 to 12 years of age in an urban setting

exposed to media.
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Chapter 2

Literature Review

Media is an upcoming field of interest of many as the networking and outreach is vast and quick.

It has been said that back in the ages where there was no internet and limited ways of communi-

cation, often criminals were seen to take advantage of this situation and attempt to get away from

the legal constraints by just moving freely from one city to another. A classic example of this

situation can be observed in the documentaries released in 2019 on the most popular psychopath

Ted Bundy who has been convicted of more than 30 murders of young women with additional

charges of rape, molestation and robbery. One can suggest in this context that media exposure is a

huge step as it has lowered the manpower by ensuring a database in place and the entire world is

just a click away (Netflix). However, as much as this media is explored and the pace at which it is

developing, it is also important to understand if the constant need to be in touch with the world has

separated individuals from each other especially when it comes down to children being exposed

to it. Despite the media being used in educational settings for visual-audio understanding of subject

matter, but it has also been pointed out that under at-least every 4 situations media tends to be

gender biased towards men (Gerbner & Gross, 1980). Another commonly and most widely used

theory explaining the influence of media violence on aggressive behavior in children is the social

cognitive theory given by Bandura where he shows two conditions of reacting to a bobo doll in

the room. It was seen that the group who was witnessed to aggressive response to the doll behaved

aggressively themselves towards the doll when they approached it. However, the group which
 11

wasn’t exposed to the aggressive outburst to the doll were pretty much calm, or to be put- Unag-

gressive. Research suggests children can learn aggressive behavior by watching media characters

perform violent acts and not being punished for this behavior or even being rewarded for it (e.g.,

Wilson et al., 2002). Thus, this study focuses to understand the extent of media use in children

ageing between 6-12 years to check whether the onset of detrimental behavior is early. American

Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reported American children and adolescents aged between 2 to18

years spend an average of more than 4 hours using electronic media daily, which is estimated to

be more than the time they spend on any other single activity except sleep.

Another study also reports that parents and children no longer have conversations face to face even

when they are only a short distance away or within the same house. It has been reported that indi-

viduals use social media as an outlet to vent frustrations and connect with others in similar situa-

tions throughout the world. For these reasons, mobile devices such as cell phones and tablets have

become ubiquitous and are an ever-expanding aspect of socialization for children (Blake &

Wrothen, 2012).

This study recorded both the quantity of devices in one house, and the amount of time spent on all

the sources of media in a day to understand the dynamics of usage and exposure. It is often seen

that parents tend to use media to distract children or to keep them mum.

A study done in 2017 by Katherin Hansonin shows an overall negative relationship between tele-

vision co-viewing during infancy as it is seen to affect cognitive outcomes during middle child-

hood including working memory, story recall, passage comprehension, academic knowledge and

vocabulary. These associations indicated that more time children and parents spend in front of the
 12

television, the poorer children fared cognitively. Co-viewing here referred to participating in this

work side by side.

A thorough longitudinal study on infant & toddler belonging to low socioeconomic mothers

showed that infants when exposed to media from 6 months were associated with lower levels of

cognitive and language development at age 14 months. These results were in support of the Amer-

ican Academy of Pediatric recommending no exposure up to the age of 2. (Dr. Suzy et.al)

It has also been reported that higher exposure to media, especially the internet has an adverse

relationship on the general mental health of an individual. Similar results were obtained when the

European college of Neuropharmacology in Vienna screened 254 students’ with respect to their

internet usage which were studied and correlated with the results of their general mental health, it

was found that the students who screened positive for internet addiction on both scales had more

trouble dealing with everyday activities. It was also seen that individuals with internet addiction

also had significantly higher amounts of depression and anxiety symptoms, problems with plan-

ning and time management, greater levels of attentional impulsivity as well as ADHD symptoms.

The test focused on illnesses like depression and anxiety, impulsiveness, inattention and executive

functioning and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The exposure to media differs in various age groups. Children in middle childhood i.e. between

the age group of 7- 12 years incorporate media into their daily lives at relatively high rates. In

beginning it estimates similar to early childhood with approximately 3 hours per day spent using

media, most of which is predominantly television. By the time they turn 8, children spend nearly

4 hours per day viewing television, 1 hour per day playing video games, and 30 minutes per day
 13

using social media sites (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). During this period, children tend to

lose their interest for slow-paced educational programs and develop a preference for entertainment

media that is faster and more complex, and contains action and violence (Valkenburg, 2004).

These findings suggest how exposure to media when unmonitored could lead to issues with one’s

well-being as well as their daily functioning. This study focuses on understanding the amount of

exposure existing in the target population in terms of quantity of devices and hours spent on these

devices. It also tries find the correlation existing between family functioning and media exposure.
 14

Chapter 3

Method

The purpose of this study is to understand the amount of exposure existing in the target population

(School going Children ageing between 6-12 years) in terms of quantity of devices and hours spent

on these devices. It also tries find the correlation existing between family functioning and media

exposure.

Sample

The target population is School going Children ageing between 6-12 years of age.

A detailed demographic detail form was distributed recording the existence of various devices,

quantity of these devices and hours spent on these devices. Children were asked to respond to

items listed on Mc Master Family Functioning Scale to analyze the social and personal interactions

within the family. An internet usage screening test was also conducted to know whether internet

dependency existed in this population. The study involves purposive sampling meaning the tar-

geted population was addressed for recording of responses.

Table 1: Population Distribution.

Total No. of Re- Mean Media Ex- Mean Family

spondents posure Functioning

Male 9 4.67 24.33

Female 13 7.23 20.54

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The table shows the number of females to be 13 and males to be 9 with their respective mean no.

of hours to media exposure and their family functioning scores.

Procedure

Data collection was done throughout the time frame of January to March 2019 however, it was

difficult to obtain active participation from the target population was due to mainly two factors.

One being Personal Assistance as every participant was individually explained and the data was

recorded by the researcher herself. This aided in accurate accumulation of data though lead to

limited access to the sample. Another being Age as it was Self-reporting tool it acted as a barrier

as the children were not yet prepared or ready to be able to respond to the items accordingly.

Thereby, this acting as a set-back during data collection.

Tools

The Family Assessment Device (FAD): Miller et al. (2000)

FAD measures the general family climate and functioning (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983),

and in this study, the subscale of general functioning was used (Miller et al., 2000). The subscale

contains 12 statements, including six statements regarding healthy functioning in the family, such

as “In times of crisis we can turn to each other for support,” as well as six statements describing

unhealthy functioning in the family, such as “Planning family activities is difficult because we

misunderstand each other.” The response options ranged from 1 = totally agree to 4 = do not agree

at all. The FAD total score was calculated and the higher the score, the greater the family func-

tioning. The instrument has been validated in other studies (e.g., Kabacoff, Miller, Bishop, Epstein,
 16

& Keitner, 1990). This scale is appropriate for this study as it gives a general family functioning

score to understand the social, inter-personal and intra-personal behavior in the family environ-

ment. Results showed that the overall reliability value of this instrument was .971. The value of

each construct in the instrument was also high although it was different. So, based on the findings,

the reliability of the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD) instrument is high.
 17

Chapter 4

Results

Table 2: Correlation co-efficient between Media Exposure & General Family Functioning.

Variables Media Exposure Family Functioning

Media Exposure 1 -0.192

Family Functioning 1

It is seen that the Correlation coefficient between Media Exposure and Parent-Child Relationship

was found to be -0.192. This negative low correlation suggests that the relationship between the

two variable is negatively associated, meaning that when one increases the other decreases i.e. it

can be said that when exposure to media is increased, the quality of Parent-Child Relationship is

decreased and vice versa. A low correlation coefficient can be a result of low sample, thus being

giving insignificant results in the current study.

 18

Figure 1: Relationship between Total Hours of Media Exposure & General Family Functioning.

It can be seen in the figure how low number of hours to media exposure shows higher scores on

family functioning.

Table 3: Mean No. of hours spent on each device.

Mobile Phones Television Other Devices*

Male 0.78 1.0 0.55

Female 0.92 1.15 1.23

*Other Devices include Computer, Laptop, Wi-Fi, Play Station, Tablet and Kindle
 19

It can be seen that female exposure to media is higher compared to that of males however this

difference is not significantly different.

1.23
Other Devices*
0.55

1.15
Television
1

0.92
Mobile Phones
0.78

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4

Female Male

Figure 2: Mean No. of hours spent on each device.

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Chapter 5

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to find the extent to which the existence of various media devices

in the household, number of hours spent on these devices, their quantity and the influence of same

on Parent-Child Relationship in School going Children.

It was seen that the existence of multiple media devices were grouped from 1 to more than 3 in a

single household. The mean no. of devices were as follows: Mobile Phones-1,

Television-0.91, Kindle-0.05, Tablet-0.41, Laptop-0.68, Play-Station- 0.36, Wi-Fi-0.05 and Com-

puter-0.68. These figures suggest that every household possesses at-least one mobile phone along

with the next major statistic to be reported for television followed by laptop and computer. Number

of all the media related devices was also monitored and it was found that mobile phones has a

mean statistic of 2.64, Television-1.18, Kindle-0.09, Tablet-0.41, Laptop-0.86, Computer-0.41,

Play-station-0.05 and Wi-Fi-0.73. These results indicate that the minimum number of mobile

phones in every household is at least two phones and one television followed by Laptop and Wi-

Fi. It can be concluded from the above statistics that the presence of media exists in these house-

holds, thereby exposing children to it is a possible assumption. Number of hours spent on these

devices was categorized into four domains- 0-2 hours, 2-5 hours, 5-10 hours and more than 10. It

was seen that the mean number of hours spent using mobile phones was obtained to be 0.86

wherein for television it was 1.09. On contrary the mean hours collectively on Computer, Laptop

etc. was obtained to be 0.95. Total mean of no. of hours was obtained to be 6.18 indicating that
 21

television is the most used and exposed formed of media in this sample followed by mobile phone

and collective usage of other devices. It was seen that the Spearman Rho Correlation coefficient

between Media Exposure and Parent-Child Relationship was found to be -0.192. This negative

low correlation suggests that the relationship between the two variable is negatively associated,

meaning that when one increases the other decreases i.e. it can be said that when exposure to media

is increased, the quality of Parent-Child Relationship is decreased and vice versa. A low correlation

coefficient can be a result of low sample, thus being giving insignificant results in the current

study. Spearman Rho was chosen as the statistical tool the data obtained is non-parametric in na-

ture and the scaling is based of rank-order i.e. ordinal data. Also, there are multiple factors in which

the quality of Parent-Child Relationship can be affected such as culture, the setting, traditional

values and norms, parental pressure and occupation, family size etc. Thus, Media Exposure can be

one of the few variables that affect the relationship shared with family members. Another im-

portant thing to be considered is the access to these devices in the targeted age group. During data

collection it was observed that children were monitored and restrained from using media more

than the stipulated time period indicating mediation from Parents which has shown better family

functioning and inter-personal relationships. AAP also recommends that parents use exposure to

media in a positive manner by helping their children to be intelligent media viewers, restricting

their media exposure, watching with their children, explaining what the child sees, and creating an

electronic media–free environment in children’s rooms.

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Interpretation of Findings

The findings are in line with what the literature suggested however the results in this study cannot

be conclusive due to a low co-efficient indicating that despite the existence of relationship, it is

still not a significant finding.

Conclusion

The results in this study show that the exposure to media exists in the target population however

it is monitored and mediated indicating no significant relationship with the quality of Parent-Child

Relationship. Though, the correlation co-efficient does indicate a negative relationship between

the two variables.

Limitations of the Study

1. The fact that child might not share a very open relationship with either of the parent and

the responses could be with respect to an individual parenting style (Mother or Father) acts

as a confounding variable.

2. Small Sample Size: Current study has only 22 respondents thereby limiting the inferential

and representativeness of the universal population.

3. Age: The target population ranging between 6-12 years is still considerable young, there-

fore, only after on field collection of data was it realized and thus, a new revised age group

or different methodology is suggested for future researches.

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4. Literature: The major part of literature focuses on foreign societies, thus it can be said that

in a country like India, exposure to media is mediated and moderated thereby explaining

how the dependency on internet is obtained to be insignificant.

Recommendations

1. Television co-viewing content and individual children content can act as another

variable since the current study shows the television viewing time as highest in this

age population.

2. Indian cultural context, moderating behaviors can be studied with respect to expo-

sure to media to understand if the literature studies replicates the results.

3. Parent and Child should be consecutively paired and interviewed for better under-

standing of the quality of relationship.

4. Sibling studies can be done to understand if there is a difference in the amount of

media exposure in older or younger children, and their quality of relationship shared

with family members can be compared to know more about the effects of exposure

and birth-order.

5. Television viewing is seen to be the major part of exposure to media, thus still

concentrating the influence to be limited to shows, cartoons, music, movies etc.

which can be studied in detail by future researchers.

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References

Vossen, H.G.M., Piotrowski, J.T., Valkenburg, P.M. (2014) Media use and effects in child-

hood. In J.F. Nussbaum (Ed.), The handbook of lifespan communication (pp. 93112). New

York: Peter Lang Publishing

Shari Barkin, MD; Edward Ip, PhD; Irma Richardson, MHA; Sara Klinepeter; Stacia

Finch, MA; Marina Krcmar, PhD: Parental Media Mediation Styles for Children Aged 2

to 11 Years: 2006

Techopedia; Definition-What does media mean: www.techopedia.com/defini-

tion/1098/media

Dharshini; Internet Addiction Linked To Mental Health Issues; Medical Daily, September

2016

Dr. Suzy Tomopoulos, MD, Dr. Benard P. Dreyer, MD, Dr. Samantha Berkule, PhD, Dr.

Arthur H. Fierman, MD, Dr. Carolyn Brockmeyer, PhD, and Dr. Alan L. Mendelsohn, MD;

Internet Media Exposure and Toddler development; Art peditr Adolsc MEd 2010 Dec

Katherine Hanson; The influence of early media exposure on children’s development and

learning, Doctoral Dissertation 2017. Social Media behaviours of parents affects relation-

ships with child; Deccan Chronicle; January 2019

Elly A Konjin; Affects and Media Exposure, Free university Amsterdam, 2018 Rae Jacob-

son; Social Media and Self-Doubt; Child Mind Institute

 25

Gerbner, G. and L. Gross. The Violent Face of Television and Its Lessons, in E.L. Palmer

and A. Dorr (eds.), Children and the Faces of Television: Teaching, Violence, Selling. New

York: Academic Press, 1980.

Valkenburg PM, Krcmar M, Peeters AL, Marseille NM. Developing a scale to assess three

styles of television mediation “instructive mediation,” “restrictive mediation,” and “social

co-viewing”. J Broadcast Electron Media.1999;43:52-66.

Roberts DF, Foehr UG, Rideout VJ, Brodie M. Kids & media@thenewmillennium. Avail-

ableat:http://www.kff.org/entmedia/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security /get-

file.cfm&PageID=1326. Accessed February 6, 2005.

Epstein, N. B., Baldwin, L. M., & Bishop, D. S. (1983). The McMaster Family Assessment

Device. Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, 9, 171-180.

Miller, I. W., Ryan, C. E., Keitner, G. I., Bishop, D. S., & Epstein, N. B. (2000). The

McMaster approach to families: Theory, assessment, treatment and research. Journal of

Family Therapy, 22, 168-189.

Kabacoff, R. I., Miller, I. W., Bishop, D. S., Epstein, N. B., & Keitner, G. I. (1990). A

psychometric study of the McMaster Family Assessment Device in psychiatric, medical,

and nonclinical samples. Journal of Family Psychology, 3, 431-439.

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Øyfrid Larsen Moen, Birgitta Hedelin, and Marie Louise Hall-Lord (2016). Family Func-

tioning, Psychological Distress, and Well-Being in Parents with a Child Having ADHD.

sgo.sagepub.com

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 27

Joe Berlinger (2019). Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. Television Doc-

umentary. Netflix.
 28

Appendix A: Demographic Details

Name:

Sex:

Date of Birth:

Age:

Mark all the items that exist in your house

 TV Desktop

 Mobile Phone Wi-Fi

 Kindle Video Game Player

 Tablet Other ______________

 Laptop

Number the quantity of appliances in your house. (1/2/3 or more)

 TV Desktop

 Mobile Phone Wi-Fi

 Kindle Video Game Player

 29

 Tablet Other ______________

 Laptop

On a typical day how many hours do you spend (0-2/2-5/5-10/more than 10)

 TV Desktop

 Mobile Phone Wi-Fi

 Kindle Video Game Player

 Tablet Other ______________

 Laptop

On a random day, while you are engaging with any of the devices, do you tend to

glect Children/parents/family

Do you try to monitor your media use? Yes / No

If yes, kindly describe how?

 30

Appendix B- Family Assessment Device

McMaster Family Functioning Scale

Please circle the number (1 - 4) which best indicates how much you agree or disagree with the 12

statements below concerning your partner or family. Circle only 1 number per question.

Agree Disa- Strongly

Strongly
gree Disa-
Agree
gree

1. Planning family activities is difficult be- 1 2 3 4

cause we misunderstand each other.

2. In times of crisis we can turn to each other 1 2 3 4

for support.

3. We cannot talk to each other about the sad- 1 2 3 4

ness we feel.

4. Individuals are accepted for what they are. 1 2 3 4

 31

5. We avoid discussing our fears and con- 1 2 3 4

cerns.

6. We can express feelings to each other. 1 2 3 4

7. There are lots of bad feelings in the family. 1 2 3 4

8. We feel accepted for what we are. 1 2 3 4

9. Making decisions is a problem in our fam- 1 2 3 4

ily.

10. We are able to make decisions about how 1 2 3 4

to solve problems.

11. We do not get along well with each other. 1 2 3 4

 32

12. We confide in each other 1 2 3 4

Scoring

All odd items are reverse scored. To reverse score an item subtract the sore for that item from 5.

For example, if the answer to question 1 is given as 2 the reverse score would be 3 (5 - 2). Once

the odd items have been reverse scored the participant’s family functioning score is simply the

sum of the 12 items.

Note: This is only one section of the McMaster Family Functioning Scales.
33