Description

The Family Environment – Cohesion scale is a 5-item measure assessing perceived emotional bonding and support among individuals and those they identify as family. Items evaluate the extent to which participants agree with statements reflecting pride in family membership, mutual support, harmony, shared time, and a general sense of togetherness. Respondents rate each statement on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree,” with an additional “Don’t Know/Refuse to Answer” option. Higher total scores indicate stronger perceived family cohesion. This measure was adapted from the Cohesion subscale of the Brief Family Relationship Scale, originally validated with Alaska Native adolescents.

AI/AN Communities where the measure has been used

Communities in the northern Midwestern United States and Canada

Demographics of AI/AN participants where the scale has been used

Adult caregivers with children and youth aged 10-18

Notes on adaptations or modifications

  1. Reduced number of items (this version contains five items from the cohesion section of the Brief Family Relationship Scale)
  2. Minor wording changes (“I” statements converted to “You” statements)
  3. Adapted response scale to a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”

Modality and administration

Self-report; this measure is administered via in-person/phone interviews or an online REDCap link is sent to the participant

Scoring

Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neither Disagree nor Agree, Agree, and Strongly Agree, with an additional response option of Don’t Know/Refuse to Answer. Responses are assigned numerical values from 0 (Strongly Disagree) to 4 (Strongly Agree). Scores for individual items are summed to generate a total cohesion score, with higher scores reflecting greater perceived family cohesion

Psychometric evidence

Internal consistency was acceptable across five subscales, with Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .58 to .79 across multiple clinical and community samples. Short-term test–retest reliability was strong (.73–.86 over 8 weeks), with 4-month stability of .66–.78, and longer-term stability over 12–48 months ranging from .45–.67.

  • (Moos, R.H., 1990).

Citation(s)

  • Moos, R. H. (1990). Conceptual and Empirical Approaches to Developing Family‐Based Assessment Procedures: Resolving the Case of the Family Environment Scale. Family Process, 29(2), 199–208. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.1990.00199.x
  • Fok, C. C. T., Allen, J., Henry, D., & Team, P. A. (2014). The Brief Family Relationship Scale: A Brief Measure of the Relationship Dimension in Family Functioning. Assessment, 21(1), 67-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191111425856
    • Note: Fok et al. adapted the Family Environment Scale (Moos, 1990) to create the Brief Family Relationship Scale (BFRS). A further adapted version of the BFRS is presented in this repository.
  • Gillson, S., Hautala, D., Steinberg, R., & Walls, M. (2026). The ongoing legacy of Indigenous family separation: Long-term outcomes of child welfare involvement among American Indian and First Nations youth. Child abuse & neglect, 173, 107884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2026.107884