“Reconsideration of the Locke- Wallace Marital Adjustment Test: Is It Still Relevant for the 1990s?” 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 1990s. Psychological Reports, 81,

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 1990s. Psychological Reports, 81,

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 1990s. Psychological Reports, 81,

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 1990s. Psychological Reports, 81,

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 1990s. Psychological Reports, 81,

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 1990s. Psychological Reports, 81,

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 1990s. Psychological Reports, 81,

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 1990s. Psychological Reports, 81,

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 1990s. Psychological Reports, 81,

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 1990s. Psychological Reports, 81,

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