Levels of family assessment: I. Family, marital, and parent-child interaction

Families are complicated systems to assess and quantify, requiring that decisions be made regarding where to focus research. The authors examined 3 levels of family interaction: marital, parent-child, and whole family. Instruments included the McMaster Structured Interview of Family Functioning, the Family Assessment Device, the Mealtime Interaction Coding System, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and the Parent/Caregiver Involvement Scale. Results suggest that each measure, representing a unique combination of family level, informant, and setting, contained both independent variance and information redundant with other measures characterizing the family. The strengths of using a theoretical base, in this case the McMaster model of family functioning, and a multimeasure approach are discussed.