Assessing nontraditional couples: validity of the marital satisfaction inventory--revised with gay, lesbian, and cohabiting heterosexual couples.
Thirty-one gay male couples and 28 lesbian couples were compared with 36 cohabiting heterosexual couples using the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised (MSI-R), a multidimensional measure of relationship functioning intended for use with both traditional and nontraditional couples. Analyses of scales' internal consistency and factor structure supported the construct validity of this measure with nontraditional couples. Analyses of mean profiles on the MSI-R indicated that cohabiting opposite-gender and same-gender couples were more alike than different, and were more similar to nondistressed samples of married heterosexual couples from the general community than to couples in therapy. Implications of current findings for clinical assessment and intervention are considered, and directions for future research are proposed.
Means-Christensen
Adrienne J
AJ
Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders Research Program, University of California at San Diego, 8950 Villa La Jolla Drive, Suite 2243, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. adrienne@ucsd.edu
Snyder
Douglas K
DK
Negy
Charles
C
D000328:Adult; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D020010:Heterosexuality; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires