Preliminary Validation of the Abbreviated Spanier Dyadic Adjustment Scale: Some Psychometric Data Regarding a Screening Test of Marital Adjustment

Abstract

The measurement of marital adjustment remains of major concern to researchers and clinicians. In spite of criticism, several research studies have reported the use of various measures of marital adjustment, most recently the Spanier Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS). This paper reports the field-testing and preliminary validation of a series of items from the DAS which have been previously suggested to be nearly as accurate as the entire scale for classifying respondents' marital adjustment. Data from a total of 545 married, living together, separated, and divorced persons revealed that the abbreviated form of the DAS validly differentiated between persons who in their perception were happy in their relationship and those who were not. The usefulness of this abbreviated scale for researchers and clinicians is discussed.