A Revision of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale for Use With Distressed and Nondistressed Couples: Construct Hierarchy and Multidimensional Scales

Abstract

The existing research on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) indicated that there were problems with some of the subscales and individual items. This study was designed to improve the instrument by following the standards of construct hierarchy. Through previous research and the analyses in this study, the subscales were found to contain some items that were homogeneous and others that were more heterogeneous. This problem was corrected by selecting out items that were homogeneous; 7 first‐order scales were created which were combined to creat the 3 second‐order concepts of consensus, satisfaction, and cohesion. With a sample of distressed and nondistressed couples, a series of confirmatory factor analyses was conducted. The factor analyses provided evidence for the construct validity of the new structure of the Revised DAS (RDAS) with the distressed, nondistressed, and total samples of this study, as well as with the sample from Spanier and Thompson's (1982) study. Additional analyses correlating the RDAS with another popular marital instrument provided more evidence for the construct validity of the RDAS. Criterion validity was demonstrated by discriminant analyses results. Both internal consistency and split‐half reliability estimates demonstrated that the RDAS was reliable. The result also supported dividing the RDAS into two alternative forms for use in pre‐ and posttest studies. Summary statistics for the RDAS are presented as are implications for the field of marriage and family therapy.

Partner Behavioral Responses to Pain Mediate the Relationship Between Partner Pain Cognitions and Pain Outcomes in Women With Provoked Vestibulodynia

“…A more negative attributional style, which consists of feelings of responsibility, global consequences, and immutability to change, has been associated with greater distress and lower dyadic adjustment in partners of women with PVD 2,20 and less partner empathy in chronic pain samples 15,18 . However, it is also worth noting that although partner attributions regarding PVD pain were related to partner distress, they were not related to patient pain 7,20 , indicating this relationship merits further investigation.…”

“…The original dyadic adjustment scale shows good psychometric properties, and the revised scale is a shorter version that shows high correlation with the original 7 . The Cronbach alpha in the present study was 0.83.…”

“…Further patient pain behaviors are then increased, possibly as an interpersonal reaction to perceived criticism or due to increased pain levels, which in turn may promote more negative behavioral partner responses, leading to a downward spiral 6,7 .…”

Provoked Vestibulodynia: Mediators of the Associations Between Partner Responses, Pain, and Sexual Satisfaction

“…Dyadic adjustment was assessed with the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (R-DAS) (Busby, Christensen, Crane, & Larson, 1995). Participants indicated their responses to 14 items on a scale ranging from 0 (always disagree/all of the time) to 5 (always agree/never).…”

“…"), and cohesion (e.g., "Do you and your partner engage in outside interests together?"). This questionnaire has been shown to have excellent reliability and validity (Busby et al, 1995).…”