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Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale

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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy

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Name and Type of Measure

The Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale (GARF) is a global rating scale for use with relational units (couples and families)

Synonyms

GARF

Introduction

The Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale (American Psychiatric Association 1994) is a relational assessment tool that yields a numerical rating ranging from 1 to 100, indicating the level of functioning within a “relational unit,” couple or family, in terms of meeting the emotional and instrumental needs of its members. Ratings reflect the overall, general level of functioning of the couple or family, with low ratings representing impairment and high ratings indicting healthy relational functioning. The GARF scale is designed for use by clinicians without requiring additional training.

The GARF was designed to be a relatively simple rating scale, patterned after the GAF, to emphasize the importance of relational context in understanding the individual client. The GARF rating is a...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Karen Mottarella

Authors
  1. Karen Mottarella
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karen Mottarella .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay L. Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony L. Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. Council for Relationships, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Heather Pederson

  2. Midwestern University, Downers Grove, IL, USA

    Diana Semmelhack

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Mottarella, K. (2019). Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_397

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