The Communication Patterns Questionnaire: The Reliability and Validity of a Constructive Communication Subscale

Heavey, Christopher L.; Larson, Brandon M.; Zumtobel, Daniel C.; Christensen, Andrew

doi:10.2307/353737

Cited by 148 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(1 reference statement)

Supporting

Mentioning

127

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Couples who deal with their problems with mutual discussion, expression of feelings, understanding of one another's views, negotiating solutions and resolving problems as a team report higher marital satisfaction [23]. A communication pattern where one partner pressures the other to talk about the issue whereas the other partner withdraws and becomes passive or defensive (a pattern they refer to as 'demand withdrawal') has also been associated with lower marital satisfaction [24].…”

Section: Adaptive and Maladaptive Communication Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

New frontiers in couple-based interventions in cancer care: refining the prescription for spousal communication

Badr

2016

Acta Oncologica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The diagnosis and treatment of cancer is a life-altering experience that signals profound changes in a person's life. However, most people do not experience cancer in isolation or cope alone. Despite the fact that partners (i.e. spouses, significant others) provide emotional support and play a critical role in caregiving, cancer exacts a heavy toll on them and challenges their relationship with the patient by altering established communication patterns and roles. In recognition of this, a burgeoning literature involving couple-based interventions to improve patient and partner quality of life and adaptation has emerged. However, questions remain regarding how we can improve these interventions to exact greater impact on patient and partner outcomes. Material and methods: A narrative review of the literature on couples' communication processes in cancer was conducted in order to describe knowledge gaps and directions for future research. Results: Most couple-based interventions have included a communication skills training component because communication is an important process through which couples make sense of cancer, engage in social support, negotiate role changes and coordinate coping responses. However, scholars still know very little about what they should instruct couples to talk about, how often they should talk and when talking (or not talking) is beneficial (and for whom -the patient, partner, or both). Conclusion: In order push this field forward, we need to develop a more nuanced view of couples' communication that acknowledges that there are multiple ways to talk, different aspects of the cancer experience to talk about, and preexisting communication patterns and preferences for different couples that may influence the utility of talk. Interventions that replace the unilateral and generic prescription to talk openly about cancer with targeted questions that prompt reflection on couples' unique strengths, preexisting communication patterns and support resources may thus help bolster the impact of couple-based interventions on patient and partner quality of life.

show abstract

Section: Adaptive and Maladaptive Communication Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

New frontiers in couple-based interventions in cancer care: refining the prescription for spousal communication

Badr

2016

Acta Oncologica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Second, Christensen (1988) developed a questionnaire that assesses communication in couples; one of its subscales correlates substantially with observed spouse behavior (Heavey, Larson, Zumtobel, & Christensen, 1996). More specifically, combined husband and wife reports on the seven item Constructive Communication subscale of the Communication Patterns Questionnaire correlated .72 (it was .70 for husbands and .62 fur wives) with observed problemsolving behavior.…”

Section: Isn't There An Easier Way: What About Spouse Reports Of Partmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This simple measure requires the spouse to indicate his or her feelings using a rating dial with a semicircular arc (ranging from very negative at one end to very positive at the other) as he or she views a videotape of prior marital interaction. Gottman and Levenson (1985) showed that spouses exhibit similar physiological responses when viewing the videotape to those in the original interaction, that self-rated affect was consistent with that coded by observers, and that it discriminated between high and low conflict interactions and between distressed and nondistressed spouses.Second, Christensen (1988) developed a questionnaire that assesses communication in couples; one of its subscales correlates substantially with observed spouse behavior (Heavey, Larson, Zumtobel, & Christensen, 1996). More specifically, combined husband and wife reports on the seven item Constructive Communication subscale of the Communication Patterns Questionnaire correlated .72 (it was .70 for husbands and .62 fur wives) with observed problemsolving behavior.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Development and Marital Relations

Fincham¹

1998

Child Development

133

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article examines aspects of the marital relationship and its assessment relevant to scholars of child development. The case for attending to marriage in child research is outlined before reviewing what is known about the construct of marital quality, behavior, emotional responding, and cognition in marriage. Practical recommendations are made for assessing each of these areas before arguing that the child's perspective of the marriage is critical for understanding children's behavior. Several limitations and promises of marital research for understanding children are also discussed. INTRODUCTIONSince its inception in the 1920s, empirical research on marriage has yielded a great deal of information. However, this information is scattered across a variety of disparate sources, making it difficult for researchers outside of the marital field to access the picture of marriage painted by scientific research. In this article I highlight some aspects of the marital relationship and its assessment that may be useful to scholars of child development. Notwithstanding the importance of disrupted marital relationships for children, the focus is on intact marriages and on the contribution of psychological research to a scientific understanding of marriage.The article is divided into five sections. In the first section I address briefly why child researchers should pay attention to marriage. The second section provides a quick tour of the marital literature that includes discussion of the most frequently studied construct in the marital literature, marital quality, and practical recommendations for selecting a measure of this construct; reviews of what is known about behavior (including affective behavior) and about cognition in marriage; and guidance on how to obtain indices of behavior and cognition in marriage. A critical question for researchers concerns the perspective from which to study marriage, an issue discussed in the third section. The fourth section highlights some further promises and problems of marital research relevant to child research before the main points and limitations of the article are summarized in the concluding section. WHY CONSIDER THE MARITAL RELATIONSHIP WHEN STUDYING CHILDREN?In this section I examine briefly why the marital relationship is important for understanding child development, considering first conceptual and then empirical reasons for its importance. The section concludes by offering a perspective on research relating marital and child functioning that further supports examination of what the marital literature might have to offer child research. Conceptual PerspectivesSeveral theoretical frameworks that have influenced the study of child development recognize the importance of the marital relationship. For example, psychoanalytic theory has viewed marital disruption as affecting the child's sense of security and the development of delinquency. In a similar vein, social learning theory suggests that children learn how to behave in relationships through observing parental interac...

show abstract

“…The CPQ-CC (Heavey, Larson, Zumtobel, & Christensen, 1996) is a seven-item measure assessing couples' communication. Rogge and Bradbury (1999) demonstrated that CPQ-CC scores were predictive of changes in satisfaction over the first 4 years of marriage.…”

Section: Measures Of Anchor Scales From the Nomological Net Eros Subsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the ruler with item response theory: Increasing precision of measurement for relationship satisfaction with the Couples Satisfaction Index.

Funk

Rogge

2007

Journal of Family Psychology

1,378

1,478

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study took a critical look at a central construct in couples research: relationship satisfaction. Eight well-validated self-report measures of relationship satisfaction, including the Marital Adjustment Test (MAT; H. J. Locke & K. M. Wallace, 1959), the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS; G. B. Spanier, 1976), and an additional 75 potential satisfaction items, were given to 5,315 online participants. Using item response theory, the authors demonstrated that the MAT and DAS provided relatively poor levels of precision in assessing satisfaction, particularly given the length of those scales. Principal-components analysis and item response theory applied to the larger item pool were used to develop the Couples Satisfaction Index (CSI) scales. Compared with the MAS and the DAS, the CSI scales were shown to have higher precision of measurement (less noise) and correspondingly greater power for detecting differences in levels of satisfaction. The CSI scales demonstrated strong convergent validity with other measures of satisfaction and excellent construct validity with anchor scales from the nomological net surrounding satisfaction, suggesting that they assess the same theoretical construct as do prior scales. Implications for research are discussed.

show abstract

The Communication Patterns Questionnaire: The Reliability and Validity of a Constructive Communication Subscale

Cited by 148 publications

References 9 publications

New frontiers in couple-based interventions in cancer care: refining the prescription for spousal communication

New frontiers in couple-based interventions in cancer care: refining the prescription for spousal communication

Child Development and Marital Relations

Testing the ruler with item response theory: Increasing precision of measurement for relationship satisfaction with the Couples Satisfaction Index.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About