THE CALIFORNIA-FAMILY-HEALTH-PROJECT .6. MULTIDOMAIN ANALYSES

The preceding articles in this series have reported associations betwe en each of four domains of family variables (World View, Emotion Manag ement, Structure/Organization, Problem Solving) and the Health of adul ts in a community-based sample of 225 families. In this article, we ex plore the relationships among all four family domains (73 variables) a nd between all four family domains and adult Health. The results of bo th principal components and multidimensional scaling analyses suggeste d the viability of the four-family-domain framework. As expected, the pattern of relationships among the variables in each family domain was maintained when Health was added to the analyses. Using multidimensio nal scaling analysis, we also found that the relationship between some family domains and Health changed when viewed in the context of the o ther family domains. These shifts suggested the importance of family c ontext on the relationship of that family domain and Health. Family Wo rld View and Emotion Management maintained their relationships with He alth; family Structure/Organization shifted relatively moderately; and Problem Solving shifted substantially. Family World View and family E motion Management may be relatively more independent in their relation to family member health than family Structure/Organization and Proble m Solving.