A COMPARISON OF THE McMASTER AND CIRCUMPLEX FAMILY ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS*.

Area of Science:

• Family Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Quantitative Psychology

Background:

• Family functioning is assessed using various models, including the McMaster model and the Circumplex model.
• Discrepancies can exist between clinician assessments and self-report measures in evaluating family dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the sensitivity and correspondence of clinical rating scales and self-report scales from the McMaster and Circumplex models of family functioning.
• To evaluate the empirical support for the Circumplex model's curvilinear hypothesis of family pathology.

Main Methods:

• Forty-one families completed self-report measures.
• Clinicians utilized clinical rating scales to assess family functioning for the same families.
• Data from both assessment methods were analyzed to compare the two models.

Main Results:

• McMaster instruments demonstrated superior sensitivity in identifying clinical families.
• Greater concordance was observed between clinical ratings and self-reports using McMaster instruments.
• The Circumplex model's curvilinear pathology hypothesis lacked empirical support, showing linear score distributions.

Conclusions:

• The McMaster model appears more sensitive and congruent for assessing family functioning compared to the Circumplex model.
• Clinical rating scales and self-report measures align better within the McMaster framework.
• The findings challenge the Circumplex model's assumptions regarding the relationship between family dimensions and pathology.