Insiders' and Outsiders' Views of Family: The Assessment of Family Competence and Style

Although the majority of research on families and family therapy has relied on self-report (questionnaire) methodology, the issue of whether such reports relate to clinical or empirical observations by raters or therapists has been a source of some controversy. This article reviews previous research, using different theoretical models, in examining "insider" (family member) and "outsider" (observer) ratings and presents data on self-report versus observer ratings using scales from the Beavers Systems Model. A total of 110 intact families (53 nonclinic, 57 clinic) were observed and rated on the Beavers Interactional Competence and Style Scales, and family members completed the SelfReport Family Inventory (SFI). Results indicated that ratings of family competence across levels were impressively high, while insider-outsider ratings of family style were less directly related. Issues regarding further research, clinical validity, and method versus model differences are discussed