Development and Evaluation of the Adult Daughter–Mother Relationship Questionnaire (ADMRQ)

Abstract

The mother–daughter relationship is embedded in a rich cultural and social context and is critical for maintaining identity and mental health over women’s adult lives. This article describes the development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of the Adult Daughter–Mother Relationship Questionnaire (ADMRQ). Research was conducted in three phases: (1) summary statements about mother–daughter relationships were extracted from 48 mother–daughter in-depth interviews from a variety of ethnic groups. These formed a draft questionnaire; (2) this initial questionnaire was circulated to 10 psychotherapists to assess face and content validity; and (3) the questionnaire was completed by a sample of 147 students and community-dwelling women including a subsample of 34 women who were currently in psychotherapy. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three major factors in the ADMRQ accounting for 49.4% of the variance: both positive and negative affect, ambivalent feelings in the relationship, and interdependency relationships. Cronbach’s αs of additive scales ranged from .625 to .927. Test–retest reliability was established.