Dyadic Coping in Russian couples: Psychometric research of the Dyadic Coping Inventory (DCI) by G.Bodenmann

Abstract

This paper presents examination of a new instrument – the Russian version of The Dyadic Coping Inventory (DCI), used among the Russian sample for the first time. Specifically, the DCI measures partners’ perceptions of their own (Self) and their partners’ behaviors (Partner) when facing individual stressors, and partners’ common coping behaviors when facing common stressors (Common). The study investigating the psychometric properties of DCI with data from 165 Russian couples (N = 329 individuals) are presented. Dyadic coping includes both a person`s attempt to reduce the stress of their partner and a common endeavor between couples to deal with external stress that affects the relationship. Quite a lot of studies reveal relevant links between the scales of dyadic coping and family functioning. DCI assesses how couples interact in everyday difficult situations, informing each other about stressful events and their experiences; how they support each other when facing individual (e.g., workload) and common (e.g., parenting) stressors. The connections of DCI scales with the indicators of the relationships` the duration in the pair and the degree of their intimacy are discussed. Results further reveal good construct validity of the DCI test scores. They show the theoretical factorial structure of the Dyadic Coping Inventory for partners, indicating convergent validity, and discriminate validity. It is concluded that the DCI is a reliable for measuring Russian couples’ coping behaviors.