FAMILY FUNCTION LEVELS OF TURKISH FATHERS WITH CHILDREN AGED BETWEEN 0 – 6

Family function levels of fathers with children aged 0–6 in Samsun, Turkey were compared on the basis of length of marriage, level of education, family structure, and type of marriage. The sample consisted of 171 fathers aged between 24–36 (average age 29.2). The Family Assessment Device (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983) was used to measure family function levels of fathers and t-test and one way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. There was a significant difference in family function levels of the fathers, according to length of their marriage, in the subdimensions of problem solving, communication, affective involvement, behavior control and general functionings, according to their level of education. In all the subdimensions of affective involvement and behavior control, according to the family structures of fathers, significant differences were found between groups and total general points; according to fathers' types of marriage, a significant difference was found between the groups regarding problem solving, communication, affective involvement, behavior control and general total points.