The ENRICH Marital Satisfaction (EMS) Scale: A Psychometric Study in a Sample of Portuguese Parents

Cristina Nunes,Lara Ayala-Nunes,Laura Inês Ferreira,Pedro Pechorro,Cátia Martins,Andreia Leal

doi:10.3390/socsci11030107

Abstract

Marital satisfaction is a key construct in the assessment of a couple’s relationship, and it encompasses aspects such as the feelings of affection, trust, and companionship that arise from the exchanges between spouses. The ENRICH Marital Satisfaction (EMS) Scale has been widely used as a reliable measure to assess marital satisfaction. In the present study, we aimed to analyze the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the EMS Scale in a sample of Portuguese parents. A total of 205 mothers and fathers participated; 107 were women (52%), and 98 were men (48%), and the mean age was 38.39 years (SD = 5.85). The majority were two-parent families (89.3%), with children between the ages of 1 and 13 years (M = 6.90), 53% of whom were boys. The participants completed the EMS Scale together with the Parenting Stress Index Short Form and the Parenting Alliance Inventory. The results from a confirmatory factor analysis corroborate the two-dimensional structure of the instrument, with internal validity and reliability values that were suitable for application in the Portuguese population. The EMS Scale can be an important resource, with good psychometric quality, for professionals and researchers, which can be used in assessment and intervention programs, both at the individual and couple levels.

Highlights

Marital satisfaction is a subjective construct that is widely used, alongside marital quality, success, and adjustment, to evaluate the relationship between partners (e.g., Tavakol et al 2017)
In the Portuguese context, we found some validations of the instruments that are used to assess marital satisfaction, such as the Marital Satisfaction Scale (MSC) (Weiss and Palos 1988, Brazilian version by (Coleta 1989)), which includes three dimensions: the satisfaction with the partner’s emotional aspects, the satisfaction with the marital interaction, and the satisfaction with the structural aspects (Hernandez et al 2017); the Marital Satisfaction Index (Hudson 1992, Portuguese adaptation by (Pereira et al 2000)), which evaluates the degree of the severity/magnitude of the couple’s problems in a marital relationship; the Kansas
The present study focuses on the shortened version of the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction (EMS) Scale (i.e., 15 items; Fowers and Olson 1993), which is used to evaluate the satisfaction that is felt in a marital relationship through two dimensions: the marital satisfaction (MS) (10 items), which assesses several aspects that are inherent to the marital relationship; and idealistic distortion (ID) (5 items)

Summary

Introduction

Marital satisfaction is a subjective construct that is widely used, alongside marital quality, success, and adjustment, to evaluate the relationship between partners (e.g., Tavakol et al 2017). The way that couples organize their family and professional responsibilities, and the existence of good communication, are important aspects to consider in their marital adaptation and satisfaction, since the tensions between these two scenarios may impair their assessment of the marital satisfaction (Martínez-Pampliega et al 2019). These are activities that are inherent to a couple’s life, and that require complicity in interests, the establishment of rules, and the development of relational patterns (Tavakol et al 2017). The factors that are associated with interpersonal relationships (i.e., sexual satisfaction), communication styles (i.e., expressions of feelings of intimacy, love, and problems), conflict resolution, stressful life events, and similarities between partners take on relevant significance (Whisman 2019)

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