Reconsideration of the Locke Wallace Marital Adjustment Test

History of the Test • Widely used over last 30 years • 15 items

Purpose of this Review To examine: • Reliability and Validity • Factor analysis •

Subjects Samples General: 150 couples Dissatisfied and Satisfied: 60 dissatisfied and 32 satisfied couples

Methods • Each group received a package containing a demographic data questionnaire, the Locke.

Results • Adequate reliability: men and women • Adequate test-retest stability • Indicated criterion-related

Conclusions • There is still life left! (still relevant) • Appropriate for clinical and

Interesting Points • LWMAT has 15 items and each are weighted differently • The

Three Weak or Unclear Arguments • Content validity of the LWMAT • Generalizabilty (samples)

Your Questions? Your Comments? Your Concerns? Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997).

Our Questions for You • Do you think rapid assessment tests are effective? (Is

Thank You Very Much! Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of

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“Reconsideration of the Locke. Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is It Still Relevant for the 1990 s? ” Article by: Mark H. Freeston and Michel Plechaty Presented by: Nakia Williams, Jennice Pamilton, Fatima Coley, and Elisabeth Hopkins

History of the Test • Widely used over last 30 years • 15 items • General satisfaction, agreement/disagreement on certain issues, relationship style • Recently been criticized (last 20 years) Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is it still relevant for the 1990 s. Psychological Reports, 81, 419 -434.

Purpose of this Review To examine: • Reliability and Validity • Factor analysis • Item analyses • Cutting-score validation • Separate analyses of men and women (generalizability) Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is it still relevant for the 1990 s. Psychological Reports, 81, 419 -434.

Subjects Samples General: 150 couples Dissatisfied and Satisfied: 60 dissatisfied and 32 satisfied couples Test-retest: 39 couples Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is it still relevant for the 1990 s. Psychological Reports, 81, 419 -434.

Methods • Each group received a package containing a demographic data questionnaire, the Locke. Wallace Marital Adjustment Test (LWMAT), and other relationship questionnaires • All groups were required to take the LWMAT • Participants’ scores on the LWMAT were used to analyze the test Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is it still relevant for the 1990 s. Psychological Reports, 81, 419 -434.

Results • Adequate reliability: men and women • Adequate test-retest stability • Indicated criterion-related or known-groups validity • Validation of traditional cutting-score • Factor structure: unifactorial and stable: men and women • Item analyses: different for men and women Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is it still relevant for the 1990 s. Psychological Reports, 81, 419 -434.

Conclusions • There is still life left! (still relevant) • Appropriate for clinical and research settings • Reliable and valid as a rapid and broadly defined adjustment scale • Convergent validity • Empirically adequate, but is it conceptually adequate? Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is it still relevant for the 1990 s. Psychological Reports, 81, 419 -434.

Interesting Points • LWMAT has 15 items and each are weighted differently • The concept of rapid assessment tests (What determines “rapid” tests? Number of questions? Difficulty? ) • Analysis of LWMAT across genders and types of couples Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is it still relevant for the 1990 s. Psychological Reports, 81, 419 -434.

Three Weak or Unclear Arguments • Content validity of the LWMAT • Generalizabilty (samples) • The concepts of factor structures vs. factor analyses were not clearly defined or compared Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is it still relevant for the 1990 s. Psychological Reports, 81, 419 -434.

Your Questions? Your Comments? Your Concerns? Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is it still relevant for the 1990 s. Psychological Reports, 81, 419 -434.

Our Questions for You • Do you think rapid assessment tests are effective? (Is 15 questions enough? ) • Was it wise for the authors to divide 2 of the sample groups into “satisfied” and “unsatisfied” considering the possibility that adjustment and satisfaction might be related? • Do you think an assessment created 30 years ago can adequately measure a 2004 marriage, including same-sex marriages? Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is it still relevant for the 1990 s. Psychological Reports, 81, 419 -434.

Thank You Very Much! Freeston, M. H. , & Plechaty, M. (1997). Reconsideration of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is it still relevant for the 1990 s. Psychological Reports, 81, 419 -434.