Developing and validating the deadly habits in marriage scale
A choice Theory-Based measure of destructive relational behaviors
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21624239 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sevda Çetin (0000-0001-5483-595X, Hacettepe University, corresponding author), Dilek Gençtanırım Kurt (0000-0003-3268-186X, Ahi Evran University), Tunahan Kargı (0000-0002-2096-8110, Gaziantep Children's Hospital), Ziya Demir (0000-0002-4600-4387, Anadolu University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Current Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1046-1310 • E-ISSN: 1936-4733 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12144-025-08839-z |
| OpenAlex | W7124526013 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 29 |
This study developed and validated the Deadly Habits in Marriage Scale (DHMS), a Likert-type scale grounded in Choice Theory, which posits that behaviors are self-determined to meet innate psychological needs (e.g., love, power, freedom). Deadly habits—destructive behaviors stemming from external control psychology—undermine marital relationships. Using two independent samples of married individuals in Türkiye ( N = 483; N = 314), the DHMS was developed in Turkish through item generation, content validation, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability assessment, and criterion-related validity evaluation. From an initial 45-item pool, EFA identified a five-factor structure—criticizing, blaming, complaining, threatening, and punishing—collapsing seven theoretical habits (including nagging and rewarding to control) into 37 empirically validated items due to overlapping behavioral patterns (e.g., nagging merged with complaining). CFA confirmed this structure, with internal consistency coefficients ranging from 0.74 to 0.90 for subscales and 0.94 overall. The DHMS showed convergent and discriminant validity and negative correlations with marital satisfaction ( r =-0.43, p r =-0.54, p
Confirmatory factor analysis · Convergent validity · Discriminant validity · Exploratory factor analysis · Nagging · Turkish · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Customer Service Quality and Loyalty · Family Dynamics and Relationships
Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences
The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire
Is the CVI an acceptable indicator of content validity? Appraisal and recommendations
Instrument review
Evaluation of methods used for estimating content validity
An Empirical Analysis of the Antecedents and Performance Consequences of Using the Moodle Platform
When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM
Factor analysis in the development and refinement of clinical assessment instruments.
Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error
Alpha Coefficients for Stratified-Parallel Tests
Emotion regulation predicts marital satisfaction
Use Omega Rather than Cronbach’s Alpha for Estimating Reliability. But
Scale Development Research
From alpha to omega
Trust, conflict, and cooperation
Measurement of Marital Communication
Marital Interaction in Iranian Couples
The Dyadic Trust Scale
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |