Psychometric proprieties of the French Version of the Family-Focused Mental Health Practice Questionnaire (FFMHPQ)

Background Children living with a mentally ill parent are a vulnerable group in the population, at higher risk of various psychosocial and mental health problems. They are also over-represented in youth mental health and child protective services. Adult mental health services that treat parents have an opportunity to identify and support children in these families. Objectives This study determines the structure and reliability of an adapted French version of the Family-Focused Mental Health Practice Questionnaire (FFMHPQ), that has been validated to assess the use of family-focused practices (FFP) by professionals offering services to adults with mental illnesses. Methods In total, 512 French-speaking adult mental health workers from all regions of Quebec, Canada, completed the French version of the FFMHPQ. Participants were mostly women (87.1%), with a mean age of 40.3years, and an average of 8.70years of experience in their current job. The sample included professionals from a variety of disciplines, including social work, nursing, psychology, psycho-education, special education, medicine, and occupational therapy. The FFMHPQ-FR was examined using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and other psychometric properties. Results Exploratory factor analysis revealed 5 factors: family-focused practices; workplace support, professionals’ perceived skills, knowledge and confidence; professionals’ openness to improving their practice, and professionals’ attitudes and beliefs toward FFP. The Cronbach's alphas of the first four factors qualified as high reliability (α=.85; α=.87; α=.89; α=.82), and the fifth factor indicated moderate reliability (α=.61). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that all single-factor models presented good fit indices (RMSEA<.08, SRMR<.08, CFI>.90 and CMIN/DF<3) and loadings. Results of the full five-factor model presented good fit on all indices, except for the CFI. Conclusion The findings suggest that the French version of the FFMHPQ is reliable and can be used to estimate the scope of FFP in mental health services, and to inform stakeholders about possible enablers and barriers to FFP among professionals, making it a highly relevant tool for improving professional practices in mental health services.