Readability assessment of questionnaires frequently used in sex and marital therapy.

The present investigation evaluated the readability of a selected group of inventories frequently employed in assessing various aspects of sexual and marital functioning. The nine inventories selected are: the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Relationship Belief Inventory, the Sexual Arousability Inventory, the Sexual Behavior Inventories (female, male, and couple versions), and the Sexual Interaction Inventory. The approach of Forbes and Cottle was utilized to assess reading level because it uses vocabulary difficulty and does not require complete sentences. The results indicated that a college-level reading ability was necessary to comprehend many of the items contained in most of the inventories. Thus, caution must be exercised when administering such inventories to individuals with a low level of educational attainment in order to avoid unreliable and invalid test results.