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Conceptualization and assessment of disengagement in romantic relationships
Author(s) -
BARRY ROBIN A.,
LAWRENCE ERIKA,
LANGER AMIE
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2008.00200.x
Subject(s) - disengagement theory , conceptualization , psychology , romance , distress , confirmatory factor analysis , scale (ratio) , psychological intervention , social psychology , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , structural equation modeling , psychoanalysis , medicine , psychiatry , gerontology , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science
Research examining relationship distress and dissolution highlights the importance of romantic disengagement. Nevertheless, prior conceptualizations and measures of romantic disengagement have tended to combine disengagement with related but distinct constructs hindering the study of romantic disengagement. The present research used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to clarify the conceptualization of romantic disengagement and to develop a novel measure—the Romantic Disengagement Scale (RDS). The RDS demonstrated adequate fit across samples of dating individuals ( n = 203), married couples ( n = 77), and women in physically aggressive relationships ( n = 42) from the Midwestern United States. The RDS also demonstrated strong divergent and incremental validity. The discussion focuses on implications for enhancing conceptual models, research methodology, and clinical interventions.