The Development of a Family Competence Instrument Related to Health

Abstract

ANALYSIS, REVISION AND RESCALING Investigators have shown that illnesses cluster in families (Downes, 1945) and that patterns of illness are repeated in successive years (Rogers & Reese, 1965). Cassel (1976) has suggested that "a remarkably similar set of social circumstances characterizes people who develop tuberculosis (Holmes, 1956) and schizophrenia (Dunham, 1961; Mishler & Scotch, 1963), are victims of multiple accidents (Tillman & Hobbs, 1949) and commit suicide (Durkheim, 1951). They are individuals who for a variety of reasons . . . have been deprived of meaningful social contact." One related social psychological variable, interpersonal competence, based on Mead's (1934) social behaviorism theory and defined by Foote and Cottrell (1955, p. 49) as "capabilities to meet and deal with the changing world, to formulate ends and implement them" has been suggested as related to the ability of persons to achieve optimal health. According to Mead (1934) rational behavior, mind, self, language and communication are developed only through repeated interactions with other human beings. The individual learns the meaning of his own behavior only through reflecting upon the response of other persons to his behavior. As verbal and non-verbal gestures are exchanged over an extended period of time, the same gesture calls out the same response in interacting individuals. They come to share the same meaning for specific verbal and non-verbal gestures. The gestures become significant symbols whose meaning is shared, resulting in