CONSTRUCT AND MEASUREMENT EQUIVALENCE ACROSS GENDER OF THE DYADIC ADJUSTMENT SCALE Yap, Bonnie Joyce The Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) is the most widely used measure of dyadic adjustment for individuals in committed relationships (Spanier, 1976). However, little research has focused on whether DAS measures the construct of dyadic adjustment in a way that is equivalent and unbiased across genders. The current study utilized matched moderated regression (MMR) to assess each item of the DAS to detect if gender differences in the relationships between item responses and the construct being measured are due to (a) factors other than the construct and (b) differences in the construct. Archival data were acquired from a previously published study (Eddy, Heyman, & Weiss, 1991). The sample was very large (N =3322) so it was divided into two replication groups in such a way that no couples were included in the same group. A number of statistically significant differences were found on items in both replication samples; however: (1) many of these items were not consistent across replicate groups; (2) Even when there was a consistent gender difference in both replication groups, the magnitude was small; (3) When all of the differences were summed across items, bias in total scale score was minimal because the direction of the biases differed across items and so cancelled out and; (4) A small gender difference may exist in preferences for demonstrations of affection. Findings suggest that there are not substantial gender bias or scale equivalence problems with the DAS. The construct of dyadic adjustment was similar in men and women. These findings are congruent results from the recent study of South and Kruger (2009) on gender differences in the factor structure on the DAS and lend support to the valid use of the DAS in studies of dyadic adjustment. M.S. in Psychology, December 2012 Young, Michael A. 2012-10-16 2012-12 Thesis application/pdf islandora:9191 http://hdl.handle.net/10560/3050 PSYCH / Institute of Psychology Illinois Institute of Technology en In Copyright http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/ Restricted Access