Employment Stressors and Partner Communication Patterns: Assessing the Reliability and Validity of a Verbal Conflict Scale for Practitioners

• Main Authors: Rocha, Cynthia, Cherry, Donna, Vincill, Ruth
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2012
• Subjects: Social Work
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/7648; https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-16849-006

Job insecurity and instability have a negative effect on workers, their relationships with their partners, and their families. This paper tests the reliability and validity of a verbal conflict scale for use with vulnerable workers as an assessment tool The scale was found reliable and valid for middle-class educated samples, but has never been tested for use with lower-skilled, less-educated workers at risk for acute problems stemming from insecure employment and risk of lay off Results indicate that the scale has high reliability and validity in this population, but also that men and women interpret communication differently. The scale is a very promising tool for practitioners who want to assess both communication differences between spouses as well as evaluate the severity and frequency of verbal aggression