The California family health project. II : Family world view and adult health

This article explores the pattern of relationships between family World View and adult Health in a community-based sample of 225 families. Family World View refers to the beliefs, appraisals, and values that define a family's orientation to the world. The interrelationships among eight self-reported family World View variables are described, using principal components analyses (PCA) and multidimensional scaling analyses (MDS). Derived, joint-spouse World Views also are examined using inter-battery factor analysis. The World View variables then are analyzed as a set with 14 self-reported health variables for husbands and wives separately, using canonical correlation. The PCAs for family World View yielded poor solutions for both husbands and wives. The MDS displayed the eight variables in a circular pattern for husbands and for wives, indicating the absence of a single broad dimension, or subgroupings of separate dimensions, that could be used to "describe" the domain. In the canonical analyses, family World View was a strong correlate of Health, with approximately 50% of the variance accounted for by the respective canonical variates. For husbands, what we called Family Coherence, Family Religiousness, Family Life Engagement, and Family Optimism, were correlated with Health. For wives, Family Coherence, Family Religiousness, and Family Optimism, were correlated with Health. Different patterns of health scores emerged by gender, with behavioral indicators, such as Smoking and Drinking, more salient for husbands, and mood indicators, such as Anxiety and Depression, more salient for wives.