Abstract
Objectives: The relevance of the social context in the study of coping with chronic illness has been increasingly recognised. Dyadic coping is the central concept within the systemic process model of coping in close relationships. To measure dyadic coping, the Questionnaire for the Assessment of Dyadic Coping (QADC) was developed. In this study, we aimed at investigating the factorial structure of a version of this questionnaire known in German as FDCT-2.
Methods: We conducted a principal components analysis. The study sample comprised N=197 persons from the general population.
Results: The analysis did not replicate the original factor structure. Instead, a four-factorial solution emerged that showed rather weak properties. We developed a revised version (FDCT-25) comprising the four factors stress communication, problem-oriented dyadic coping, emotion-oriented dyadic coping, and negative dyadic coping. These revised scales showed adequate internal consistency.
Conclusion: Our results question the construct validity of the QADC in its original version and underline the need to further investigate the validity of the QADC.
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