THE TRANSLATION AND VALIDATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP DYNAMIC SCALE (RDS-M) MALAY VERSION AMONG HEALTHY MARRIED MALAY WOMEN

Abstract

Background: Relationship Dynamic Scale (RDS) questionnaire is a marital fitness scale that measure marital conflict. The RDS has been translated into different languages and assessed in different populations. The validity and reliability of RDS varied depending on the ethnicity and culture of the respondents. This study aimed to establish a valid and reliable version of the RDS in Malay (RDS-M).

Methodology: A cross-sectional study using the translated and validated RDS questionnaire was conducted in married Malay women. Subjects were asked to complete the RDS-M that consists eight items. The concept, content, and construct validity and reliability of the RDS-M were assessed. 

Results: 150 subjects were involved in this study. The content validity index (CVI) for the RDS-M from three expert lecturers was 0.95, indicating satisfactory validity content. The final model confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed good model fit based on ?² p-value > 0.001, SRMR = 0.038, RMSEA = 0.083, CFI = 0.970 and TLI = 0.930. The internal consistency for reliability confirmation indicated good reliability (Cronbach’s ? coefficient = 0.764). 

Conclusion: Our results demonstrated good reliability and validity of the Malay version of the RDS as a measure of marital conflict in healthy married Malay women. This will fill an important gap in measuring the marital conflict for married women in research and community settings in Malaysia. The RDS-M can be used to help prioritize health-related concerns from the married women’s perspective.

Acknowledgement: Fundamental Research Grant Scheme 2015(203.PPSP.6171192)