A number of Administrators in the USA have asked for the scoring of this item to be clarified and we thought it might be helpful to be proactive and share this information with Australian Administrators. The item in question is:

This item is regarded a positive item (+) by David Olson, the author of the scale, in that a strong sense of Spiritual Beliefs is associated with strong marriages and it is helpful for people to express their concern that living together is regarded by them as contrary to their religion. The best way to deal with a couple's specific response patterns that occur in the Counsellor Report is to be factual using the descriptive interpretations below:

Individual Response:

If a person “agrees” with this item (response of 4 or 5), this response indicates they are feeling and are expressing concern or guilt about living together.

If a person “disagrees” with the item (response of 1 or 2), they either are not concerned or think the teaching of their religion approves of (or does not oppose) living together.

An “undecided” response (3) indicates the person is unclear or unwilling to take a stand on the issue.

An “Agreement item ” (A) - this means that both persons agree with the item, meaning they are both concerned.

A “Disagreement item” (D) - this means that one person agrees and the other person disagrees with the item

A “Special Focus item” (S) - this means that they both are not concerned or do not think living together is contrary to their religion.

An “Indecision item” (I ) - both persons are unclear or unwilling to take a stand on this issues.

By using the appropriate descriptive comments above as a starting point, the couple can then be encouraged to enlarge on and explore the meaning and implications of their particular responses.

We hope that you find this clarifies the scoring and interpretation of this important item in PREPARE-CC.
 

Past Hints 
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News Update:  

If you have not already read it, the December 2003 issue of the Newsletter, the Prepare Diary, is available on this web site.  Access is via the link on the Administrators' home page. 
Brief articles are included on marriage enrichment programs, understanding positive and negative items, as well as an update on Prepare-CC. 

The cost of processing has not been increased and remains at $38.50 (inclding GST).