Abstract
Social support systems can have either a beneficial or adverse effect when a family faces stress. Hence, support perceived by family members is an important construct. We studied the psychometric properties of the Family Support Scale (FSS) with a sample of 244 low-income families of children in a Head Start program, and we conducted an exploratory factor analysis with the scale. We obtained a 5-factor solution for the FSS when assessing the family support of low-income families. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were moderately high for the 5 proposed subscales. The factor structure obtained may prove more valid for Head Start families than structures from previous studies, although there is still a need for further psychometric study of the FSS.
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Hanley, B., Tassé, M.J., Aman, M.G. et al. Psychometric Properties of the Family Support Scale with Head Start Families. Journal of Child and Family Studies 7, 69–77 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022912130180
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022912130180