Effect of Method Bias on the Internal Structure of the Systemic Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Measure of Family Functioning

Abstract

This study was conducted to test for method bias stemming from mixing positively and negatively worded items in a widely used measure of family functioning, the Systemic Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (SCORE). Data were collected from a community sample of 377 U.S. adults with children in the household, with 32% reporting greater family difficulties than a clinical pre-therapy average and 66% reporting greater difficulties than a clinical post-therapy average. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were performed to test two models: Model 1, a unidimensional model in which items represented a single theoretical construct and Model 2, a multidimensional model in which items represented a method dimension (i.e., positively worded or negatively worded) as well as an underlying theoretical construct. Fit indices showed that Model 2 fit the data better than Model 1 for all dimensions tested, suggesting that method bias had detrimental effects on the factor structure of dimensions of the SCORE.