The importance of task in evaluating positive marital interactions

This article illustrates the importance of task context for evaluating the reliability and validity of observer assessments of warm/supportive marital interactions. Multiple observer ratings of 424 families were obtained within and across two observational task situations using the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales (Melby et al., 1990). The psychometric properties of observer ratings and family member reports were assessed simultaneously through the use of structural equation modeling. In general, the findings support the reliability of the global assessments of warm/supportive marital behaviors. As hypothesized, a marital discussion task elicited significantly higher levels of spousal warmth than the problem-solving task. Validity, however, varied across the two interactional contexts. These inconsistencies underscore the importance of task context, both for eliciting warmth/support behaviors and for evaluating the validity of observational measures of such behaviors.