[Psychometric properties of the third version of family adaptability and cohesion evaluation scales (FACES-III): a study of peruvian adolescents].

OBJETIVES.: Our aim was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the FACES-III among Peruvian high school students.

MATERIALS AND METHODS.: This is a psychometric cross-sectional study. A probabilistic sampling was applied, defined by three stages: stratum one (school), stratum two (grade) and cluster (section). The participants were 910 adolescent students of both sexes, between 11 and 18 years of age. The instrument was also the object of study: the Olson's FACES-III. The analysis included a review of the structure / construct validity of the measure by factor analysis and assessment of internal consistency (reliability).

RESULTS.: The real-cohesion scale had moderately high reliability (Ω=.85) while the real-flexibility scale had moderate reliability (Ω=.74). The reliability found for the ideal-cohesion was moderately high (Ω=.89) like for the scale of ideal-flexibility (Ω=.86). Construct validity was confirmed by the goodness of fit of a two factor model (cohesion and flexibility) with 10 items each [Adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) = 0.96; Expected Cross Validation Index (ECVI) = 0.87; Normed fit index (NFI) = 0.93; Goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.97; Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.06].

CONCLUSIONS.: FACES-III has sufficient reliability and validity to be used in Peruvian adolescents for the purpose of group or individual assessment.