Articles
Exploring the Evaluation of the Family System Test (FAST) for the Three-generation Family
2010 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 42-53
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2010 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 42-53
The Family System Test (FAST) evaluates family structure by combining measures of family cohesion and hierarchy. Previous studies using the FAST in Japan excluded three-generation families since the FAST didn't indicate any clear way of evaluating them. The purpose of this study was to explore its evaluation system for three-generation families.
The FAST and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were administered to 45 university students from three-generation families. The original means of evaluating family cohesion was applicable for large families and the present results showed that it was suitable for use with the three-generation families, but the same was not the case for family hierarchy. In the original means of evaluating family hierarchy, grandparents' and parents' generations could be considered as one generation, and at first we evaluated them as such. However, preliminary results showed that it was not suitable because shifts in power between grandparents' and parents’ generations had happened in many families. Therefore, we developed a new way of evaluating family hierarchy based on the FAST's theoretical background, that is, whether the generation boundary is clear or not. According to this new evaluation of family hierarchy, subjects were divided into two groups after examining boundaries of two generations in each family.
With the combination of the family cohesion and hierarchy judged by the above methods, the evaluation of family structure was examined with respect to its relation to the GHQ score. Results showed that a group of high cohesion families with and without clear generational boundaries could be considered as a ‘Balanced’ type, a group of medium cohesion families with and without clear generational boundaries and a group of low cohesion families with clear generational boundaries as ‘Labile-balanced’ type, and a group of low cohesion families without clear generational boundaries as ‘Unbalanced’ type.
