Validating the Couple Relationship Skills Inventory

• Published date: 01 February 2022
• Author: Francesca Adler‐Baeder,Ted G. Futris,Julianne McGill,Evin W. Richardson,Elif Dede Yildirim
• Date: 01 February 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12590

RESEARCH

Validating the Couple Relationship Skills Inventory

Francesca Adler-Baeder

1

|Ted G. Futris

2

|Julianne McGill

1

|

Evin W. Richardson

3

|Elif Dede Yildirim

1

1

Department of Human Development and

Family Science, Auburn University, Auburn,

Alabama, USA

2

Child and Family Development, University of

Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA

3

Human Development and Family Science,

University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA

Correspondence

Francesca Adler-Baeder, Department of

Human Development and Family Science,

Auburn University, 263 Spidle Hall, Auburn,

AL 36849, USA.

Email: francesca@auburn.edu

Funding information

Administration for Children and Families,

Grant/Award Number: 90FM0082

Abstract

Objective: We tested the validity of the factor structure

and reliability of a new research-informed comprehensive

inventory of key relationship skills predictive of couple

quality, the Couple Relationship Skills Inventory (CRSI).

Background: The CRSI is based on the National Extension

Relationship and Marriage Education Model, an evidence-

derived framework developed as a guide for couple relation-

ship education content. For internal consistency in assessing

the effectiveness of programming for couples and for general

use in practice and research with couples, an important next

step is the design and validation of a comprehensive measure

of these core behavioral/attitudinal skills.

Method: Theanalytic(or“training”) sample of ethnically and

economically diverse adults included 824 (independent) men and

women and two cross-validation samples (n=763 and n=470).

Results: Bayesian confirmatory factor analysis of individual

measurement models informed refinement to a 32-item, nine-

factor (seven-subscale) measure and indicated excellent fit of

the model to the data. Reliabilities for the full scale and the

subscales were good to excellent. Cross-validation study fit

statistics and reliabilities were similar, and measurement

invariance across samples was validated. Further, support

for internal discriminant validity was implied by small to

moderate covariances among the factors and concurrent and

predictive validity was evidenced (i.e., significant associations

among CRSI scores and measures of relationship quality and

family harmony).

Implications: This measure provides an efficient assessment

of core relational skills critical for healthy couple quality

and may prove useful in practice and for future studies of

couple relationships and couple relationship education.

KEYWORDS

couple relationship education, Couple Relationship Skills Inventory,

couple relationships, validation

Received: 18 May 2020Revised: 6 March 2021Accepted: 27 March 2021

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12590

© 2021 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2022;71:279–306.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 279

INTRODUCTION

A large body of research on couple relationships informs our understanding of what makes rela-

tionships “work”(i.e., relationships that are satisfying and stable; e.g., Adler-Baeder

et al., 2004; Bradbury et al., 2000; Fincham & Beach, 2010; Gottman, 2004; Karney &

Bradbury, 1995, 2005, 2020). Assessment of couple dynamics typically involve single construct

measures, often of communication (e.g., Conflict Tactics Scale; Straus, 1979; Positive Interac-

tions Scale; Huston & Vangelisti, 1991; Johnson & Bradbury, 2015) or are limited to

operationalizing couple quality primarily in terms of subjective indicators of satisfaction

(Karney & Bradbury, 2020). The study of the effectiveness of couple relationship education

(CRE) programs has yielded mixed findings and opposing summaries regarding the efficacy of

such programs (e.g., Karney et al., 2018; Stanley et al., 2020). Many factors, such as varying

curricula, program design, participant characteristics, and facilitator characteristics are likely at

play. It also may be that the predominant use of global indicators of relationship quality to

examine the effectiveness of CRE programs rather than measures more directly related to the

skills taught and attitudes emphasized in programs contributed to mixed findings.

Internal consistency between program content and outcome measures is critical in effective

evaluation design. Further, efforts to expand the typical communication-satisfaction model of

assessing relationship quality have emphasized the inclusion of couple attributes and other

behavioral and cognitive indicators of relationship skills (e.g., admiration, understanding, gen-

erosity, fairness; Fawcett et al., 2013; Ogolsky et al., 2017). These factors better align with the

skills and practices reinforced in CRE programs and may serve as more accurate measures of

program effectiveness, as well as provide more nuance in the study of couple processes.

A working group of researchers and practitioners forming the National Extension Relation-

ship and Marriage Education Network conducted extensive work over several years (2006–

2013) to summarize the extant literature on predictors of couple quality. The focus was to pro-

vide a comprehensive research-informed framework for practice and assessment focused on

couple functioning (Futris & Adler-Baeder, 2013). The group used a deductive process to cate-

gorize constructs and determine modifiable predictors that could be conceptualized as skills

(i.e., patterns of thinking and behaviors) related to higher quality couple relationships. Predic-

tors from the studies reviewed were thematically coded and conceptually distinguished using an

extensive interrater reliability process. This resulted in the seven-factor National Extension

Relationship and Marriage Education Model (NERMEM; Futris & Adler-Baeder, 2013).

The NERMEM was offered to the field of family science and family life education as an

organizing tool for assessing the research base of the content and focus of existing couples inter-

ventions and educational programs. The NERMEM collection of factors extends the dominant

emphasis typically placed in these interventions/programs on more limited communication

behaviors that have been criticized for their viability in demonstrating impact on couple quality

(Johnson & Bradbury, 2015). Consistent with other research on couples, the NERMEM also

emphasizes the importance of relationship maintenance behaviors (Ogolsky et al., 2017), couple

attributes (Fawcett et al., 2013), processes that lay the foundation for friendship and love

(Gottman & Gottman, 2017), and individual health and well-being. Because of the vast array

of attitudes and behaviors associated with couple functioning that predict couple quality, the

emphasis in developing the NERMEM was on distilling the more prominent factors, keeping in

mind a comprehensive but reasonable number that could be addressed in CRE programs. Sub-

sequent to this effort, the model was used to design new CRE curricula for promoting healthy

couple relationships (Futris et al., 2014; McGill et al., 2016; Schramm et al., 2013).

For internal consistency in assessing the effectiveness of programming and interventions for

couples that include the NERMEM factors in program and intervention content, an important

next step is the design and validation of a comprehensive measure of these core healthy couple

skills. More broadly, a multidimensional, comprehensive measure of key couple relationship

280 FAMILY RELATIONS