Construct validity of the relationship profile test: correlates of overdependence, detachment, and healthy dependency in low income urban women seeking medical services.

Studies have documented the construct validity of Bornstein and Languirand's (2003) Relationship Profile Test (RPT) in college students, psychotherapy patients, and nursing home residents, but no studies have examined the utility of RPT Destructive Overdependence (DO), Dysfunctional Detachment (DD), and Healthy Dependency (HD) scores in community samples. To fill this gap, we assessed links between RPT scores and theoretically related variables in low income urban women seeking medical services (N = 110), obtaining predicted links between RPT scores and scores on measures of childhood abuse and neglect, adult attachment style, conflict-resolution tactics involving a domestic partner, Axis I symptomatology, and overall quality of life. Comparison of RPT means in this sample with those in Bornstein et al.'s (2003) college student sample yielded differences that were generally in line with expectations. These results support the construct validity of RPT scores in urban women and suggest that the RPT may be a useful index of DO, DD, and HD in this heretofore unexamined population.