Walter R. Schumm

Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale.

The Kansas Marital Satisfaction (KMS) Scale is found to correlate substantially with both Spaniers (1976) Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) and Nortons (1983) Quality Marriage Index (QMI), but not to correlate significantly more than those two scales with a variety of other satisfaction items designed to assess the discriminant validity of the KMS scale. Other characteristics of the KMS scale are similar to those reported in previous research and compare favorably with those of the DAS and the QMI, even though the latter scales contain more items than the KMS scale. It is concluded that the KMS scale may serve as a useful brief measure of marital satisfaction in future research with married couples.

An Exploratory Study of Homeschooling in Kansas

Personal interviews with a nonrandom sample of four current or former homeschooling mothers indicated that these mothers were homeschooling to avoid what they perceived as negative social or academic aspects of public schools and to promote closer family interaction. While the families appeared to be divided along traditional gender-role assignments, fathers were responsible for at least one of the childrens subjects, usually science, religion, or physical education. While all the mothers saw time management and household organization as a stressful challenge, support from their husbands and homeschooling-support groups was critical in dealing effectively with the stresses of homeschooling.

Characteristics of Responses to the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale by a Sample of 84 Married Mothers

Responses to 3 items on marital satisfaction, 6 on Edmonds Marital Conventionalization Scale, 6 from the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale from 84 married mothers, aged 34.7 yr., indicated reasonable reliability and usual problems with skew and kurtosis. Significant marital social desirability was noted. The scale seems useful.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE KANSAS PARENTAL SATISFACTION SCALE AMONG TWO SAMPLES OF MARRIED PARENTS

Characteristics of the Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale were investigated in two samples of parents, 84 married mothers in the first sample and 52 married fathers and 85 married mothers in the second sample. In all cases, satisfactory estimates of internal consistency reliability, significant differences between item means, and significant correlations with self-esteem were obtained, providing preliminary support for the validity and future potential of the scale as a brief measure of personal satisfaction with oneself as a parent, with the behavior of ones children, and with ones relationship with ones children.

Criterion-Related Validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale

The mean responses on the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale from 212 wives from intact marriages and 8 wives who had recently separated from their husbands were significantly different. That difference did not appear to be an artifact of social desirability since it decreased only slightly among subjects scoring zero on marital social desirability. The results provide new, if quite limited, support for the criterion-related validity of the marital satisfaction scale. Other characteristics of the scale paralleled previous research, with the new finding that, by controlling for marital social desirability, it was possible to reduce substantially, but not eliminate, some of the nonnormal characteristics of the distributions of the scores.

Test-Retest Reliability of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale

Further development of a brief measure of marital satisfaction is reported. The Kansas Marital Satisfaction (KMS) Scale was administered to 106 mothers who participated in a pretest for a nutrition education program. In accordance with previous research, Cronbach alpha estimates of internal consistency reliability were, at .96 or greater, more than adequate; test-retest reliability of the scale was substantial, as indicated by an r of .71 over a 10-wk. interval. Non-significant to moderate correlations of scores on the scale with individual social desirability and with scores on subscales of the Family Environment Scale were found.

EFFECTS OF A MILITARY OVERSEAS PEACEKEEPING DEPLOYMENT ON MARITAL QUALITY, SATISFACTION, AND STABILITY

Changes in self-reported soldier marital satisfaction and marital quality were assessed at three points in time, 1994–1997, before, during, and after a 1995 peacekeeping deployment of approximately 100 married soldiers to the Sinai peninsula. Analysis shows a moderate decline in marital satisfaction during the deployment (effect size of 0.27–0.29) but no overall change in the long term. Marital quality did not change significantly over time. Marital stability rates were especially low for soldiers who reported that their marriage was in trouble prior to the deployment. It appears that stable marriages can survive 6-mo. deployments without long-term decrements in satisfaction or quality. How many couples will continue to accept voluntarily a military lifestyle that requires frequent sacrifices of marital satisfaction as may occur during separations and deployments remains an open question, even though intentions for retention did not appear correlated with marital satisfaction or changes in marital satisfaction over the deployment in this study.

Marriage Preparation Programs: A Literature Review

In the past two decades, the need for high-quality marriage preparation programs and better program evaluation has become more evident. This review tracks developments in programming, theory, and evaluation as a foundation for program improvements. Recommendations for programming and policy include reaching a wider variety of audiences with a greater diversity of educational tools. Recommendations for research include seeking better understanding of self-generated couple growth, applying laboratory-tested models to community settings, and exploring differential effects of formal and informal prevention strategies.

Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone: Path Analysis in Family Studies.

Most importantly this paper is intended to serve as a useful guide both for the careful planning of future investigations and for the evaluation of completed studies using path analysis. It is hoped that reanalysis of previous path models and of data suitable for path analytic techniques will be stimulated. Also the paper may be a convenient initial reference for family scholars interested in learning more about path analysis. (excerpt)

Characteristics of the Kansas Family Life Satisfaction Scale in a Regional Sample

In a regional sample of 620 families, the four items of the Kansas Family Life Satisfaction Scale demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability and limited construct validity. As with other satisfaction scales, however, the scale did not manifest a normal distribution of responses. The scales social desirability characteristics were not assessed and remain unknown.