Prior to addressing the hypotheses set out in the previous
chapter, two tests of reliability were performed on the
independent
and dependent measures in Wave 2 data. The first
assessed the degree
of internal consistency of the measures using Cronbach's
Alpha, and
the second assessed the stability of the measures across time
by way
of Test-Retest Reliability. Lack of internal
consistency as well as
instability of measures limit the generalizability of
research
findings (Cronbach, Gleser, Nanda & Rajaratnam, 1972).
Internal consistency of the
measures. Cronbach's Alpha coefficients
assess the proportion of variance due to common factors among
scale
items. More specifically, the alpha coefficient is the
ratio of the
universe-score variance to actual observed score
variance. In other
words, the alpha coefficient indicates how accurately one can
generalize from an observed score with several modes of
responses and
a fixed situation, to the universe score for that situation
over all
modes of responses (Cronbach et al., 1972).
According to Kerlinger
(1973), a reliability coefficient of .60
or better would be needed to meet a moderate standard of
reliability.
Listed below are the scale characteristics and reliability
coefficients for measures put to this test. The
following measures
were assessed using this technique: (1) the EPQ-R (EPQN,
EPQP, EPQL,
EPQE), (2) the Barron-Ego Strength Scale, (3) the MacAndrew
Scale,
(4) the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, (5) the Spielberger
Trait
Anxiety Scale, (6) the Alcohol Dependence Data Schedule, and
(7) the
Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS). The remaining alcohol measures
(Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test and the Diagnostic
Interview
Schedule) were not subjected to tests of reliability since
they
provide multidimensional indicators of alcohol related
behaviour.
1) The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire - Revised
(EPQ-R). The EPQ-R
is composed of the following four subscales: psychoticism
(EPQP),
neuroticism (EPQN), extraversion (EPQE) and a validity or lie
scale
(EPQL). For the purposes of these analyses, the long
version of this
measure was employed. Respondents were asked to answer
"YES" or "NO"
to all subscale items.
A. The EPQP is composed of
32 items. The scale range was 0-14
for males and 0-12.38 for
females with means of 3.78 (S.D.=
2.59) and 3.25 (2.39),
respectively. The EPQP provided Alpha
levels of .58 for males and .54
for females.
B. The EPQN is composed of
24 items. The scale range was 0-24
for both males and females with
means of 7.76 (S.D.=5.16) and
10.17 (S.D.=5.25),
respectively. The EPQN provided Alpha levels
of .87 for both males and
females.
C. The EPQE is composed of
22 items. The scale range was 0-23
for both males and females with
means of 13.53 (S.D.=5.29) and
13.45 (S.D.=4.63),
respectively. The EPQE provided Alpha levels
of .86 for males and .82 for
females.
D. The EPQL is also
considered to be a measure of social
conformity (Eysenck &
Eysenck, 1985). It is composed of 21
items. The scale range was 0-20
for males and 0-21 for females
with means of 9.33 (S.D.=4.48)
and 10.48 (S.D.=4.49),
respectively. The EPQL
provided Alpha levels of.82 for males
and .83 for females.
2. Barron Ego Strength Scale.
The Barron Ego Strength Scale is composed of 67
items. Respondents
were asked to answer "TRUE" or "FALSE" to
each of the scale items.
The scale range was 25-58 for males and 24-59 for females
with means
of 47.41 (S.D.=5.41) and 43.85 (S.D.=5.68),
respectively. The Barron
Ego Strength Scale provided Alpha levels of .63 for males and
.60 for
females.
3. The MacAndrew Scale.
The MacAndrew Scale (MAC) is composed of 49 items. As with
the Barron
Ego Strength Scale, respondents were asked to answer
"TRUE" or
"FALSE" to the scale items. The scale range was
10-34 for males and
10.42-32 for females with means of 22.05 (S.D.= 3.80) and
20.05
(S.D.=3.49), respectively. The MacAndrew Scale provided Alpha
levels
of .33 for males and .25 for females.
4. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.
The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is composed of 10
items. Respondents
were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed or
disagreed
with each scale item. Choices of responses were: (1)
strongly agree,
(2) agree, (3) disagree, and (4) strongly disagree.
When computed,
high scores indicate high self esteem, whereas low scores
indicate
the opposite. The scale range was 20-40 for both males
and females
with means of 33.83 (S.D.=4.50) and 33.30 (S.D.=4.49),
respectively.
The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale provided Alpha levels of .85
for both
males and females.
5. Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale.
The Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale is composed of 20
items.
Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they
experienced scale items. As was the case with the
Rosenberg
Self-Esteem Scale, this measure was also based on a four
point scale.
The item values were as follows: (1) almost never, (2)
sometimes, (3)
often, and (4) almost always. The scale range was 20-61
for males
and 21-71 for females with means of 32.88 (S.D.=7.86) and
34.72
(S.D.=8.20), respectively. The Spielberger Trait
Anxiety Scale
provided Alpha levels of .88 for males and .89 for females.
6. Raistrick's Alcohol Dependence Data Schedule (SADD).
The SADD is composed of 15 items. As in the previous
scale,
respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they
experienced the scale items. Scale values were similar to
those of
the Trait Anxiety Scale and were as follows: (1) never, (2)
sometimes, (3) often, and (4) nearly always. The scale
range was
0-13 for males and 0-12 for females with means of 1.15
(S.D.=2.30)
and .96 (S.D.=2.02), respectively. The SADD provided
Alpha levels of
.76 for males and .66 for females.
7. Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS).
The abridged version of CTS used in this research is
composed of 6
items reflecting the more severe forms of physical abuse.
Respondents were asked to indicate how often they
participated in the
various forms of conflict resolution strategies reflected by
the
scale items. The CTS was constructed on the following
six point
scale: (1) never, (2) once a year, (3) two to three times a
year, (4)
often, but less than once a month, (5) about once a month,
and (6)
more than once a month. The scale range was 6-22 for
both males and
females with means of 6.44 (S.D.=1.53) and 6.70 (S.D.=1.66),
respectively. The CTS provided Alpha levels of .83 for
males and .74
females.
Table 6 provides a summary
of Wave 1 and Wave 2 reliability
coefficients for male and female respondents. Upon
comparing the
Alpha levels from both sets of data, it appears that for the
most
part, estimates of internal consistency remained relatively
stable
across the two year period between data collection for both
males and
females. The exceptions are the reliability
coefficients provided by
the MacAndrew Scale (male and female data), the Ego-strength
Scale
(female data), the SADD Scale (male and female data) and the
CTS
(female data). The source of these differences will be
explored in
an examination of attrition that follow in a later section.
Scale Wave 1 Wave 2
Males Females Males Females
EPQ-R
EPQP
.60
.61
.58 .54
EPQN
.85
.85
.87 .87
EPQE
.82
.80
.86 .82
EPQL
.82
.82
.82 .83
Ego Strength .67 .70 .63 .60
MacAndrew .43 .54 .33 .25
Self-Esteem .83 .86 .85 .85
Trait Anxiety .84 .88 .88 .89
SADD .68 .82 .76 .66
CTS .75 .91 .83 .74
Test-retest reliability of the
measures. One of the objectives of
this study is to examine the stability of the partner abuse
across
time. In order to better understand this variable, the
stability of
other independent measures also needs to be explored.
Wave 1 and
Wave 2 measures were correlated and assessed by Pearson's
correlation
coefficients to determine their test-retest
reliability. Of the 13
measures tested, six for males, and five for females attained
r
values of .70 or greater. In general, correlations were
stronger for
males compared to females.
As expected, personality measures were found to be more
stable than
alcohol or spouse abuse measures. Strongest
correlations were
provided by the EPQE (r=.86) for males, and the EPQL (r=.80)
and EPQN
(r=.80) for females. Weakest correlations were provided
by the MAST
and the "lifetime diagnosis for alcoholism for both
males (r=.47 and
r=.17, respectively) and females (r=.27 and r=.11,
respectively).
Correlations for the prevalence of partner abuse (CTS) were
.59 for
males and .44 for females. Table 7 summarizes the results of
these
analyses based on male and female respondents who completed
questionnaires in both Wave 1 and Wave 2.
Measures
r
Males Females
Personality Measures:
EPQP
.63 .64
EPQE
.86 .78
EPQL
.81 .80
EPQN
.82 .80
MacAndrew
.65 .60
Trait
Anxiety
.84 .77
Ego
Strength
.72 .71
Self-Esteem
.72 .68
Alcohol Measures:
SADD
.61 .60
Ethanol
.60 .65
Mast
.47 .24
Lifetime Diagnosis for
Alcoholism
.17 .11
Partner Abuse
(CTS)
.59 .44
Note: All correlations are significant at the p < .001
level except
for female's lifetime diagnosis for alcoholism (p < .05).
It has already been reported
that an attrition rate of 21.3
percent has been experienced by the entire sample. Of
the subsample
of males and females who were married or remarried, this rate
was
found to be 20.7 percent (21% for males and 20.4% for
females).
T-Tests and Chi-Square
analyses were conducted within the
married and remarried subsample to assess whether systematic
differences existed between respondents who completed Wave 2
of this
project and those who did not. Both male and female
dropouts had
significantly higher MAST scores than male and female
completers
(1.36 v. 1.00 , p < .05 for males, and .58 v. .37,p <
.001 for
females). Male dropouts alone differed from male
completers along
the following dimensions: male dropouts tended to be nonwhite
(46.33%, p < .01), belonged to the religious preference
category,
"other" (35.39%, p < .05), had higher EPQP
scores (4.66 v. 3.63, p <
.01), and consumed more alcohol (.74 ounces v. .55 ounces, p
< .001).
Female dropouts on the other hand, were significantly
different from
female completers in that they tended to be older (28.66%, p
< .01),
had higher SADD scores (1.29 v. .79, p < .001), consumed
less alcohol
(.19 ounces v. .28 ounces, p <.001) and had higher scores
on the
"lifetime diagnosis for alcoholism measure" (1.30
v. 1.08, p < .05).
T-Tests conducted on CTS
mean scores (as measured by the
abridged version of the CTS) did not produce any significant
differences between dropouts and completers for either male
or female
respondents. Similarly, the proportion of male and
female
respondents reporting perpetrating partner abuse did not
differ
significantly for either completers or dropouts. Tables
8 and 9
provide the results of chi-square and t-test analyses
conducted on
Wave 1 demographic, personality, alcohol, and the prevalence
of
perpetrated partner abuse with respect to participation in
this
project.
Variable
N %
Attrition Chi-Square
Wave
1
M F
M F
M F
Age Groups
18-34
yrs 95
135 20.0 17.0
0.08 10.43**
35-49
yrs 164 160
21.3 15.0
50
yrs+ 188
157 21.3 28.7
Marital Status
Married 429
443 21.4 20.5
1.11 0.48
Remarried 18
9 11.1 11.1
Educational Status
Grade school
27 26 37.0
38.5 11.36* 8.85
Some high sc
93 92 28.0 20.6
High sc grad
88 110 22.7 20.0
Some college/ 110
115 16.4 20.9
technical sc
College degree
73 79 17.8 19.0
Post
grad 56
30 12.5 6.7
education
Current Employment Status
Employed 377
280 21.2 19.6
0.23 0.001
Unemployed 11
10 27.3 20.0
Annual Income
<$10,000/yr. 5
4 40.0 25.0
8.48 4.14
$10,000-20,000/yr 16
34 43.7 26.5
$20,000-35,000/yr 88
88 22.7 23.9
$35,000-50,000/yr127
117 19.7 14.5
>$50,000/yr.
196 161 16.8 18.6
Religious Preference
Catholic 117
143 24.8 24.5
10.97* 7.15
Protestant
197 205 17.8 20.0
Jewish
14 11 7.1 0.0
Other
51 47 35.3 23.4
No religious
56 46 16.4 10.9
preference
Race
White 417
417 19.4 19.4
9.63** 2.87
Nonwhite 30
35 43.3 31.4
CTS
No
abuse 322
273 19.9 23.1
0.18 2.77
Abuse 115
175 21.7 16.6
Note:* p < .05, ** p < .01
Variable
N Score
Means F
Males Females Males Females Males Females
EPQP
Dropouts 94
92 4.66 3.35
1.51** 1.17
Completers
350 359 3.63 3.32
EPQL
Dropouts 94
92 11.29 11.55
1.22 1.19
Completers
349 360 9.32 10.39
EPQE
Dropouts 94
92 13.66 13.41
1.29 1.05
Completers
350 359 13.78 13.22
EPQN
Dropouts 94
92 8.39 10.68
1.04 1.15
Completers
352 359 8.93 11.07
SELF-ESTEEM
Dropouts 92
92 32.39 32.72
1.27 1.03
Completers
351 358 33.70 32.65
TRAIT ANXIETY
Dropouts 91
92 35.28 36.13
1.07 1.11
Completers
351 358 33.50 35.22
EGO-STRENGTH
Dropouts 93
91 45.14 41.75
1.23 1.08
Completers
349 359 46.92 43.48
MACANDREW
Dropouts 93
91 23.07 20.98
1.15 1.11
Completers
349 359 22.35 20.29
SADD
Dropouts 93
91 1.32 1.27
1.18 5.36***
Completers
349 359 1.57 0.79
ETHANOL
Dropouts 94
92 .74 .19
2.28*** 2.89***
Completers
349 358 .55 .28
MAST
Dropouts 94
91 1.36 0.58
1.43* 1.09***
Completers
350 360 1.00 0.37
Table 9
continued
Table 9 (continued)
N Score
Mean F
Variable
Males Females Males Females Males Females
LIFETIME DIAGNOSIS FOR ALCOHOLISM
Dropouts 94
92 1.45 1.30
1.33 1.38*
Completers
352 359 1.34 1.08
CTS
Dropouts 89
92 6.72 7.11
1.03 1.04
Completers
348 358 6.60 7.46
Note: * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001
:Not all totals will equal 94 (males)
or 92 (females) for
dropouts or 352 (males) or 360 (females)
completers due to missing
data.
Next: Chapter 5 Part 2
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