Assessing disharmony and disaffection in intimate relationships: Revision of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory factor scales.

Previous research has identified 2 broad components of distress in intimate relationships: overt conflict, or disharmony, and emotional distance, or disaffection. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the authors derived 2 broadband scales of disharmony and disaffection from the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised (D. K. Snyder, 1997), building upon previous measures of these constructs (D. K. Snyder & Regts, 1982) derived from the original instrument. The new scales demonstrated high internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as discriminative validity and convergent validity with independent criteria of relationship functioning. Distinct distributions of these scales in community and clinical samples suggested their complementary role in research on intimate relationships and assessment of couples in treatment.