FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE FAMILY-OF-ORIGIN SCALE: DOES THIS SCALE MEASURE WHAT ITS CREATORS SAY IT DOES?

The factor structure of the Family-of-Origin Scale (FOS) was examined. The FOS is a 40-item instrument devised to measure perceptions of health in the family of origin. Subjects were 162 gay and bisexual males. A confirmatory factor analysis was employed to examine the similarities of the factor structure obtained in the present study with those proposed theoretically by the test authors. The results supported the notion that the FOS is comprised of a single underlying construct that may be represented by bipolar items. It was concluded that the findings do not support the theoretically proposed factor structure of the FOS and that the value of the FOS is suspect.