Conclusions and Future Directions

Abstract

From the foregoing review of family measurement procedures, one conclusion should be clear—the domain is characterized by a great diversity of instruments that span a range of constructs, assessment foci, data sources, target populations, and applications. At the same time, it must be acknowledged that for most measures found in the extant literature, limitations regarding psychometric strength or frequency of use argue against a clear endorsement of their application. A relatively small set of instruments, however, can be identified and recommended to the interested researcher, given the more-than-adequate reliability and validity characteristics associated with these procedures and/or the considerable promise they possess as useful measures. On this basis, our evaluation of the field is generally positive and optimistic, yet tempered by the recognition that much work needs to be conducted before the field’s potential contributions can be realized. In this chapter, future research needs are presented with the aim of encouraging rigorous and programmatic research concerned with the development, refinement, and validation of family assessment procedures of relevance to studies of child psychopathology.