Family Quality of Life in a Canadian Sample

Background: Past studies have evaluated the psychometric properties of the Family Quality of Life Survey 2006 (FQOLS-2006). Analyses are sometimes conducted on data from different countries, combined. A countrys healthcare and social services are likely to impact FQOL among families with members with developmental disabilities, and these can vary widely between countries. The current project contains three studies, each evaluating different aspects of the FQOLS-2006 with a uniquely Canadian sample.

Methods: Study 1 employs Confirmatory Factor Analysis to evaluate the factor structure of the FQOLS-2006 to determine whether its nine domains are reliably measured by its six dimensions, and whether Overall FQOL is reliably measured by its nine domains. Study 2 investigates the relationship between general information questions in the A Sections, and domain-level FQOL in the B Sections, in the Health, Finances and Support from Services domains, using chi-square and qualitative analyses. Study 3 compares domain-level FQOL ratings of one- vs two-parent families, and of families with one vs more than one member with DD.

Results: In study 1, with some additional modifications in five domains, all nine domain models fit the data well. The freely estimated Overall FQOL model fit the data very closely. Study 2 found strong relationships between Sections A and B; respondents reporting challenges in Section A reported low FQOL at a higher rate in Section B. An additional finding was that, while health and services FQOL were generally high, financial FQOL was lower in our sample. In study 3, one-parent families reported significantly lower FQOL than two-parent families only in the Finance domain. Small sample size rendered the results of the comparison of families with one vs more than one member with DD uninterpretable.

Conclusions: Study 1 suggests the factor structure of the FQOLS-2006 is valid for use with urban Ontarian families. Study 2 suggests good convergent validity between Sections A and B. Studies 2 and 3 suggest that finances may be a particular source of stress for the families in our sample. Limitations, future research and clinical implications are explored in the discussion section.