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An evaluation of an interview assessment of marriage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

David Quinton
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Michael Rutter*
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Olwen Rowlands
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Professor M. Rutter, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.

Synopsis

An interview assessment of marriage relationships is described. It is shown to have good inter-rater reliability, high consistency across the accounts of both marriage partners and to be resistant to methodologic bias. A four-year follow-up study demonstrated high predictive validity to later marriage breakdown. The marriage measure also showed a strong association with behavioural deviance in the children. The intercorrelations between individual measures of various aspects of the marriage and the summary measure are given. A shortened version of the interview is described and preliminary findings are given on its validity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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References

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