Family System Test

The Family System Test (FAST) is a new approach for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of relational structures. This clinically-derived figure placement technique was designed to evaluate cohesion and hierarchy in the family and its subsystems in a variety of situations. Cohesion is represented by the distance between figures on the board. Hierarchy is represented by the elevation of figures with blocks. The FAST is a versatile clinical and research tool which can be used in individual and family settings with respondents as young as six years. The FAST is economical compared with other instruments which provide similar information. Another significant advantage of the FAST lies in its ability to trigger a process of reflection on family relations among respondents, thus facilitating diagnosis and therapy. A first evaluation is possible right after completion of the representations. For example, it is possible to determine structural characteristics such as clarity of generational boundaries without any prior calculations. A review of the follow-up interviews and the spontaneous comments of the family members permits ad hoc individual and family-oriented systemic hypotheses. The FAST can be used in research and in clinical practice: •as an individual test (with respondents age 6 and over) and as a group test •for the analysis of family structures (perception and interaction) •for diagnosis of biopsychosocial problems •for the planning and evaluation of preventive and therapeutic interventions •in therapy training and clinical supervision. A large number of different social situations can be studied by means of the FAST. Depending on the issue on the hand, the standard test procedure can be modified to include different phases of current conflicts as well as past and anticipated events. Furthermore, the figures need not to be limited to the persons living in the same household as the respondent. In fact, if children of divorced or separated families are allowed a free selection of figures, they can provide interesting information regarding their identification with absent family members. For example, children of divorced parents often represent the absent parent when the relationship is not stressful. Sometimes, however, respondents include even deceased family members in their set of important figures. The first pilot studies with the FAST were conducted in the early 1980's by the test author at the Outpatient Clinic of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Zurich. These showed that parents and children were highly stimulated to reflect upon the relationships in their families, a fact that contributed to the planning of therapeutic interventions. Financial support from the Swiss National Research Foundation and the Stanford Center for the Study of Families, Children and Youth enabled the test author to conduct validation studies with healthy families at the Department of Psychology at the Stanford University, California from 1985 to 1988. The following research with the FAST in Switzerland focused again on interpersonal constructs of distressed family members. The studies were devoted to conceptualize empirically-based interventions for families with a mentally disturbed offspring. The attempted goal was to develop the FAST as an instrument that is flexible to accommodate the requirements of systemic treatment strategies and at the same time allows to meet high clinical standards. The FAST manual, originally published in Germany 1993, has been translated into major European languages as well as Japanese, and clinicians and researchers from various fields are now using this tool (www.fast-test.com). Gehring, T.M., Debry, M. & Smith, P.K. (2001). The Family System Test (FAST): Theory and Application. Hove: Routledge. Gehring, T.M. (1998). Family System Test (FAST). Seattle: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.