FACTORIAL STRUCTURE AND CORRELATES OF MARITAL ADJUSTMENT IN A JAPANESE POPULATION - A COMMUNITY STUDY

A total of 146 married inhabitants (67 men and 79 women) in a provinci al city of Japan were interviewed to examine marital adjustment and it s psychosocial determinants. Fifteen items of the Short Marital Adjust ment Test (Locke and Wallace, 1959) (LWT), a self-rating questionnaire , were transformed into a semi-structured interview together with two new items. Factor analysis yielded five factors which were interpreted as dyadic consensus, satisfaction, flexibility, home-loving, and inte rest-sharing, Better marital adjustment in women was correlated with h igher standard of living, lower neuroticism, and a more caring father, whereas in men it was correlated with lower psychoticism and a more c aring mother. Longitudinal studies are needed to throw more light on t he determinants of marital adjustment.