TY - JOUR
T1 - Global Marital Satisfaction Versus Marital Adjustment
T2 - An Empirical Comparison of Three Measures
AU - Heyman, Richard E.
AU - Sayers, Steven L.
AU - Bellack, Alan S.
PY - 1994/12
Y1 - 1994/12
N2 - Two measures of marital satisfaction, the Quality of Marriage Index (R. Norton, 1983) and the Relationship Satisfaction Questionnaire (D. D. Burns & S. L. Sayers, 1992) were compared to a measure of marital adjustment, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (G. B. Spanier, 1976). The measures showed excellent convergent validity (high correlations among each other and with other measures of marital functioning) and discriminant validity (low or nonsignificant correlations with psychopathology subscales). However, spouses' ratings of frequency of disagreements differed significantly from their ratings of satisfaction in the same areas. Formulas for converting scores among the measures are given, and the measures were found to have modest classification powers. The relative advantages and disadvantages of adjustment and satisfaction measures are discussed, and recommendations are made for when to use each type of measure.
AB - Two measures of marital satisfaction, the Quality of Marriage Index (R. Norton, 1983) and the Relationship Satisfaction Questionnaire (D. D. Burns & S. L. Sayers, 1992) were compared to a measure of marital adjustment, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (G. B. Spanier, 1976). The measures showed excellent convergent validity (high correlations among each other and with other measures of marital functioning) and discriminant validity (low or nonsignificant correlations with psychopathology subscales). However, spouses' ratings of frequency of disagreements differed significantly from their ratings of satisfaction in the same areas. Formulas for converting scores among the measures are given, and the measures were found to have modest classification powers. The relative advantages and disadvantages of adjustment and satisfaction measures are discussed, and recommendations are made for when to use each type of measure.
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U2 - 10.1037/0893-3200.8.4.432
DO - 10.1037/0893-3200.8.4.432
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:21844509599
SN - 0893-3200
VL - 8
SP - 432
EP - 446
JO - Journal of Family Psychology
JF - Journal of Family Psychology
IS - 4
ER -