The increased construct validity and clinical utility of assessing relationship quality using separate positive and negative dimensions.

The Positive and Negative Quality in Marriage Scale (F. D. Fincham & K. J. Linfield, 1997) is a self-report measure that separately assesses positive and negative dimensions of relationship quality. Fincham and Linfield found that ratings of positive and negative marital quality accounted for unique variance in maladaptive attributions and self-reports of dyadic behavior beyond that accounted for by the Marital Adjustment Test (H. J. Locke & K. M. Wallace, 1959), a widely used measure of marital quality that combines these dimensions. The current study expanded on these findings using a different measure of relationship quality and observed dyadic behavior with a sample of engaged couples (N=43). The results indicate that a two-dimensional approach to measuring self-evaluations of relationship quality is more informative than a one-dimensional approach during the engagement period. ((c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).