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There has been much debate among family scholars about how to define and measure relationship satisfaction. Much of the disagreement stems from two sources: how to define the construct of interest and whether to use a global or specific measure. The Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) was developed to measure a single construct, namely one's subjective evaluation of a close relationship. This measure is not limited to marriage relationships and has shown strong predictive validity with dating couples. This study examined the criterion-related validity of the RAS by comparing Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) scores to RAS scores in a clinical population of 55 men and 63 women. Findings of zero-order and partial correlations and a multiple regression suggest a high degree of convergence between the two instruments, with the highest correlations being between the RAS total score and DAS total score, and the RAS total score and DAS Satisfaction subscale score. Implications for interpretation and use of RAS scores are discussed.
Marital quality and similar constructs are among the most widely studied by family researchers, yet there is no consensus on how to define or measure them. Regardless of the construct named, several measures are similar in content and assess both interactions and attitudes. The appropriate measure to use depends on the population of interest and intended uses of measurement results. Marital difficulties have been shown to have negative physical and psychological effects and are the most common reason that people seek therapy (Fincham & Bradbury, 1987). Several instruments of varying length and focus have been developed to provide information about marriage and other close relationships. Popular instruments for assessing marital quality are criticized for a lack of reliability and validity, vaguely defined concepts, and inappropriateness for certain groups. The purpose of this study is to examine the validity and potential uses of the Relationship Assessment Scale (Hendrick, 1988) with a clinical population.
MARITAL SATISFACTION
The concept of interest has been called marital satisfaction, stability, quality, adjustment, and happiness, falsely assuming that these labels are synonymous (Heyman, Sayers, & Bellack, 1994; Lenthall, 1977). Measures of this concept, regardless of the definition or administration procedure, have been so highly correlated that it has been argued that they form one dimension or are each a part of...