Self and observer reports of interpersonal problems in couples

This study investigated self-partner agreement on a measure of interpersona l problems as well as the relationship between discrepancy in self-partner ratings and self-reported symptomatology Both partners of 49 young adult co uples rated themselves and their partners on the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP: Horowitt. Rosenberg. Baer. Ureno. &Villasenor. 1988). The r esults demonstrated that couples generally evidenced significant agreement in characterizing the interpersonal problems of each target person, suggest ing that the substantial self-partner agreement previously reported for per sonality traits generalizes to the domain of interpersonal problems. Result s also indicated that the relationship between self-partner discrepancy and symptomatology depended on the target person's gender. Finally. the data p rovide preliminary evidence of the psychometric properties of an observer f orm of the IIP. including its circular structure. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Son s. Inc.