Browsing by Author "Slater, Mark A."
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Item Spouse observation methodology : reports of the impact of spousal behavior(1983) Slater, Mark A.; Vincent, John P.; Roberts, T. Kevin; Carbonari, Joseph P., Jr.Behavioral marital researchers and therapists have used spouses themselves as observers of their partners' behavior for more than a decade. Lately, however, several researchers have questioned the basic assumptions underlying spouse observation techniques. The present study attempts to improve spouse observation methodology and reinterpret the data that it provides. Cognitive and communication models of marital interaction are employed to reconceptualize spouse observation reports, and hypotheses derived from these models are investigated. The results of this research indicate that spouse observations are best understood as proximal self-reports of the impact of spousal behavior, and not as objective reports of the actual events that transpire in a marriage. Exploratory analyses of spouses' idiosyncratic interpretations of their partners' behavior also indicate imporatant cognitive processes that are involved in marital functioning. The implications of these findings for marital therapy and research are also discussed.Item The structure of parenting : a psychometric evaluation of the parenting dimensions inventory (PDI)(1986) Slater, Mark A.; Vincent, John P.; Carbonari, Joseph P., Jr.; Power, Thomas G.; Phelps, Randy E.Parenting is a construct which is central to all comprehensive theories of child development, socialization, and psychopathology. However, parenting as a scientific construct has not been adequately defined in terms of a coherent theoretical framework. The research reported here presents a multidimensional model of parenting which integrates the current parenting literature. A new assessment device, the Parenting Dimensions Inventory (PDI), was developed to measure the constructs in the proposed model. Psychometric evaluation of the PDI revealed useful measurement properties, including unidimensional scale factor structures and high scale reliabilities. Structural equation modeling analyses supported the hypothesized multidimensional model of parenting and provided construct validity for the PDI. Variations in parenting, assessed by the PDI, accounted for a significant amount of the variation in children's adjustment, measured by the Child Behavior Checklist. These findings indicate the utility of the multidimensional parenting model, as well as the reliability, construct validity and predictive validity of the PDI.