Process / pipelinecouple and marital assessment

Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS)

The Dyadic Adjustment Scale is the most widely used self-report instrument for measuring the quality of relationships in married or cohabiting couples. Developed by Graham Spanier in 1976, it captures four fundamental dimensions of relationship functioning: consensus (agreement on key domains), satisfaction (contentment in the partnership), cohesion (togetherness and shared activities), and affectional expression (intimacy and passion). The DAS has become a gold standard in couple therapy research, relationship satisfaction studies, and marital intervention trials.

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Sources

  1. Spanier, G. B. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38(1), 15-28. DOI: 10.2307/350547
  2. Spanier, G. B. (1989). Bequests of the 1980s to family sociology. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51(4), 825-840. DOI: 10.2307/352948

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Referenced by

ScholarGateDyadic Adjustment Scale (Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS)). Retrieved 2026-06-04 from https://scholargate.app/en/social-psychology/dyadic-adjustment-scale