Psychological Testing of Marriage

Crane, D. R., Soderquist, J.N., Frank, R.L. (1995). Predicting divorce at marital therapy intake: A preliminary model. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 23 (3), 227-236.

Presented By:Alana Williams, Jolie Randall,Liz Price, and Gina Bright

Crane, D.R., Soderquist, J.N., Frank, R.L. (1995). Predicting divorce at marital therapy intake: A preliminary model. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 23(3), 227-236.

Purpose of Study To predict divorce in a marital-

distressed and therapy-seeking population, using data from two forms of marital assessment.

Crane, D.R., Soderquist, J.N., Frank, R.L. (1995). Predicting divorce at marital therapy intake: A preliminary model. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 23(3), 227-236.

Marital Status Inventory “MSI” True/False Test that reliably and

validly measures divorce potential.

Crane, D.R., Soderquist, J.N., Frank, R.L. (1995). Predicting divorce at marital therapy intake: A preliminary model. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 23(3), 227-236.

Marital Adjustment Test “MAT” Measures overall marital quality and

accurately and consistently differentiates between distressed and not distressed couples.

Crane, D.R., Soderquist, J.N., Frank, R.L. (1995). Predicting divorce at marital therapy intake: A preliminary model. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 23(3), 227-236.

Past vs. Current Studies Past studies have utilized cross-

sectional data collected mainly from women.

The current study utilized longitudinal data from closed files from BYU’s MFT clinic. Therefore data included men and women.

Crane, D.R., Soderquist, J.N., Frank, R.L. (1995). Predicting divorce at marital therapy intake: A preliminary model. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 23(3), 227-236.

Testing Models The study tested various models that best

predicted divorce outcome. The best model included the individual

contributions of both partners, but studied as mutually influential variables.

This model was significantly more accurate than chance at assigning marital status.

Crane, D.R., Soderquist, J.N., Frank, R.L. (1995). Predicting divorce at marital therapy intake: A preliminary model. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 23(3), 227-236.

Most Important Predictor Wife’s distress level (as measured

by the MSI) was found to be the most important factor in predicting marital outcome.

Crane, D.R., Soderquist, J.N., Frank, R.L. (1995). Predicting divorce at marital therapy intake: A preliminary model. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 23(3), 227-236.

Three Interesting Points 1) The weight of women’s distress

level versus men’s distress level. 2) Marital quality (tested by the MAT)

was not found to have a strong or direct relationship to marital stability.

3) Women who married at an older age were more likely to get divorced.

Crane, D.R., Soderquist, J.N., Frank, R.L. (1995). Predicting divorce at marital therapy intake: A preliminary model. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 23(3), 227-236.

Three Weak Points 1) The subject sample consisted entirely

of couples from the Mormon population. 2) High face validity of MAT and MSI

allows fakeability and social desirability. 3) Misleading weight placed on women’s

MSI score.

Crane, D.R., Soderquist, J.N., Frank, R.L. (1995). Predicting divorce at marital therapy intake: A preliminary model. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 23(3), 227-236.

Conclusion The MSI was valuable for marital

therapy. The MAT scores did not determine

marital stability.