Development of the Brief Romantic Relationship Interaction Coding Scheme (BRRICS).

Abstract

Although observational studies of romantic relationships are common, many existing coding schemes require considerable amounts of time and resources to implement. The current study presents a new coding scheme, the Brief Romantic Relationship Interaction Coding Scheme (BRRICS), designed to assess various aspects of romantic relationship both quickly and efficiently. The BRRICS consists of four individual coding dimensions assessing positive and negative affect in each member of the dyad, as well as four codes assessing specific components of the dyadic interaction (i.e., positive reciprocity, demand-withdraw pattern, negative reciprocity, and overall satisfaction). Concurrent associations with measures of marital adjustment and conflict were evaluated in a sample of 118 married couples participating in the Michigan State University Twin Registry. Couples were asked to discuss common conflicts in their marriage while being videotaped. Undergraduate coders used the BRRICS to rate these interactions. The BRRICS scales were correlated in expected directions with self-reports of marital adjustment, as well as children’s perception of the severity and frequency of marital conflict. Based on these results, the BRRICS may be an efficient tool for researchers with large samples of observational data who are interested in coding global aspects of the relationship but do not have the resources to use labor intensive schemes.

The quality of the interparental relationship does not moderate the etiology of child conduct problems

“…Each parental dyad was asked to discuss and attempt to resolve recent conflicts in their relationship. Trained raters then coded the videos using the Brief Romantic Relationship Interaction Coding Scheme (BRICCS; Humbad et al ., 2011). The BRICCS was designed to assess various aspects of romantic relationships, including specific components of the dyadic interaction.…”

The Michigan State University Twin Registry (MSUTR): An Update

“…In doing so, we make use of several measurement strategies: parent- and child-informant reports, videotaped parent–child, family, and spousal interactions, and the assessment of an independent sample of neighborhood informants from each twin family’s neighborhood. The TBED-C has already produced several published papers (Burt & Klump, 2012, in press-a; Burt et al, 2012; Humbad et al, 2011; Klahr et al, in press; Marceau et al, 2012; Nikolas et al, 2012, in press), with many more under review and in preparation.…”

Romantic competence behavior during problem solving among emerging adult dating couples: Development of an observational coding system

“…Not only does the BRRICS assess features of couple interaction that are representative of most of the common coding systems (Heyman, ), but similar to our new assessment of RC behavior, the BRRICS is a global coding system and can be coded in a timely and efficient manner. In addition, the BRRICS has shown good interrater reliability (Burt, Wildey, & Klump, ; Chow & Ruhl, ; Humbad et al, ), and BRRICS codes are associated with relationship adjustment (Humbad et al, ).…”