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The Us as a Couple Questionnaire (US): A Unidimensional Measure of Couple Satisfaction

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Relating Theory – Clinical and Forensic Applications

Abstract

This chapter describes the psychometric evaluation of the Us as a Couple Questionnaire (US) for assessing relationships. Two groups of participants completed the US: 112 Dutch community couples and 50 Dutch couples, of which one of the partners had a substance-related disorder. A Rasch analysis (Robin et al., Applied Psychological Measurement, 23(1), 90–94, 1999) revealed that 17 of the 20 items were found to fit the model, confirming its unidimensionality. This shorter version (the US-2) has sufficient internal consistency and good convergent and divergent validity. There was also a significant difference between the addicted couples and community couples, which supports its construct validity. The unidimensionality of the US-2 is an advantage over existing instruments as an evaluation instrument since its self-report nature makes it straightforward and inexpensive to administer in research and therapy settings.

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de Jong, C., DeFuentes-Merillas, L., van de Werken, F., Birtchnell, J. (2016). The Us as a Couple Questionnaire (US): A Unidimensional Measure of Couple Satisfaction. In: Birtchnell, J., Newberry, M., Kalaitzaki, A. (eds) Relating Theory – Clinical and Forensic Applications. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50459-3_6

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