Screening for Marital Distress Epidemiologic and Clinical Perspectives

Findings from a representative U.S. sample of community couples suggest that marital discord is taxonic (comprising a discrete underlying entity), with an estimated base rate prevalence of .31. A 10item screening measure developed to detect marital discord demonstrates good temporal stability and criterion-related validity in distinguishing distressed from nondistressed couples. Adaptations of this 10-item measure into diverse languages support cross-cultural applications in epidemiologic studies of the prevalence of relationship discord and its comorbidity with emotional, behavioral, and physical health problems of adult partners and their offspring. In aggregate, results suggest that discordant couples differ qualitatively, and not just quantitatively, from nondiscordant couples and that user-friendly methods, suitable for a range of research and clinical applications, can be used to examine the prevalence and diverse impact of marital discord. Douglas K. Snyder Texas A&M University, USA