TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding the meaning of marital relationship quality among couples in peri-urban Ethiopia
AU - John, Neetu A.
AU - Seme, Assefa
AU - Roro, Meselech Assegid
AU - Tsui, Amy O.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [grant number OPP117_01.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2017/2/1
Y1 - 2017/2/1
N2 - This study explores the meaning of marital relationship quality (MRQ) among couples in peri-urban Ethiopia. We examined the factor structure of MRQ by assessing the reliability and validity of four validated Western scales capturing domains of trust, commitment, satisfaction and communication through exploratory factor analysis. Although most of the items of the original Western scales were relevant for the study population, the domains did not mirror the original Western scales and varied by gender. Interestingly, while the domains of commitment and trust followed the Western scales and were very similar across gender, the third domain, which we labelled conflict differed by gender. For women, items from the constructive communication scale seemed relevant, indicating an interest in resolving conflicts, whereas for men, items from the satisfaction scale appeared more important, indicating a desire to avoid or reduce conflict in their relationships. Our study highlights the usefulness of adapting existing validated scales in a new context after assessing their psychometric properties. Such applications provide opportunities for broadening understanding of fundamental MRQ domains that may universally be shared cross-culturally.
AB - This study explores the meaning of marital relationship quality (MRQ) among couples in peri-urban Ethiopia. We examined the factor structure of MRQ by assessing the reliability and validity of four validated Western scales capturing domains of trust, commitment, satisfaction and communication through exploratory factor analysis. Although most of the items of the original Western scales were relevant for the study population, the domains did not mirror the original Western scales and varied by gender. Interestingly, while the domains of commitment and trust followed the Western scales and were very similar across gender, the third domain, which we labelled conflict differed by gender. For women, items from the constructive communication scale seemed relevant, indicating an interest in resolving conflicts, whereas for men, items from the satisfaction scale appeared more important, indicating a desire to avoid or reduce conflict in their relationships. Our study highlights the usefulness of adapting existing validated scales in a new context after assessing their psychometric properties. Such applications provide opportunities for broadening understanding of fundamental MRQ domains that may universally be shared cross-culturally.
KW - Ethiopia
KW - couples
KW - cross-cultural comparisons
KW - marital relationship quality
KW - marriage
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U2 - 10.1080/13691058.2016.1215526
DO - 10.1080/13691058.2016.1215526
M3 - Article
C2 - 27684713
AN - SCOPUS:84982083219
SN - 1369-1058
VL - 19
SP - 267
EP - 278
JO - Culture, Health and Sexuality
JF - Culture, Health and Sexuality
IS - 2
ER -