Marital Pressure Scale for Chinese City Inhabitants: Development, Reliability and Validity

This study aims to develop an assessment instrument for measuring marital pressure among city inhabitants that is suitable for Asians from a Chinese cultural background. The design of the Martial Pressure Scale was conceptually based on the Pines Couple Burnout model with items initially generated from open-ended questions. Information was gathered from the open-ended questionnaire via personal interviews with a small sample of 10 married couples. Data were then analysed and an initial pool of items was generated. These items were then assessed by a panel of experts that resulted in a 30-item scale. The initial scale was administered to an experimental sample of 260 married adults and data were analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis. Based on the results of the Exploratory Factor Analysis, the scale was then reduced and modified. Psychometric properties of the reduced scale were then investigated. The reduced scale was subjected to further Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using a test sample of 800 married individuals. The results obtained from the Factor Analyses suggested a 14-item scale with 3 main components. Internal consistency was obtained for the total, component and item scores with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.75 to 0.82 and split-half coefficients between 0.71 and 0.80. The results from CFA indicated a 3-component model fitted well with the data and supported the theoretical proposition. In conclusion, the Marital Pressure Scale is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring marital pressure among Asian married individuals from a Chinese cultural background.