Preliminary Psychometrics and Potential Big Data Uses of the U.S. Army Family Global Assessment Tool

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to explore the psychometric properties of the U.S. Army’s Family Global Assessment Tool (GAT), which assesses the psychosocial fitness of Army families. With data from 1,692 Army spouses, we examined the structure, reliability and validity of the GAT, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and two validity studies. Fifty-three items and 9 factors were retained following CFA. This model provided a good fit, and scales demonstrated strong internal consistency. Bivariate correlations and results from a theoretically driven model provide preliminary evidence of validity. Findings support the usefulness of the GAT for measuring psychosocial fitness of Army spouses.

Keywords:

• Family
• Marriage Relations/Divorce/Remarriage
• Parenthood/Parent-Adult Child Relations
• Army
• Spouses
• Resilience
• Psychometrics

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this manuscript was supported the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number 1F31HD088045-01. Further, this work was conducted in coordination with the U.S. Army Research Facilitation Laboratory and funded by the Army Resiliency Directorate. The U.S. Department of Defense does not exercise any editorial, security, or other control over the information in this article. The authors assume responsibility for the veracity, accuracy, and source documentation of the material, including no use of classified material and conformity to copyright and usage permissions. The views expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official policy of the Department of the Army, Department of the Defense, or the U.S. government.