Open Collections

The marital self-disclosure questionnaire : a vacation study

University of British Columbia

The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a new measure of self-disclosure: The Marital Self-Disclosure Questionnaire (MSDQ: Waring, Holden, & Wesley, 1998). Test-retest reliability of the MSDQ was examined in a sample of 41 participants over a two-week period (r=.86, p<.01). The criterion validity of the MSDQ was examined in a sample of 119 married individuals. The MSDQ was found to have a significant correlation with the Affective Self-Disclosure Questionnaire for Couples, r=.53, p<.01 (ASDC: Balswick, 1988). It also had a modest significant relationship with the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, r=.23, p<.05. (KMSS: Schumm, Jurich, & Bollman, 1986). Internal consistency reliability of the four subscales on the MSDQ was examined. It was discovered that the Imbalance scale (alpha .32) and the Total scale (alpha .64) have low internal consistency reliability. The MSDQ was found to be contaminated by a marital conventionalisation response set (r=.18, p<.05) as measured by the Marital Conventionalization Scale (MCS: Edmonds, 1967). Women were found to disclose more than men on the MSDQ Total scale. Recommendations for future development of the MSDQ are discussed. Implications of gaining a clearer understanding of the role of selfdisclosure in the development of marital satisfaction is discussed in regards to research, theory, and marital counselling.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-08-04

For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/11605

Counselling Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace