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Abstract
Conflict surrounding financial matters is not only a common occurrence for couples, but also one that if persistent and enduring, can lead to negative relational outcomes, including reduced relationship stability and divorce. Yet, valid assessment tools for the purposes of measuring couples’ financial conflict are scarce. This dissertation introduces and tests a newly developed measurement, the Couple Financial Conflict Scale (CFCS), which is designed to assess the presence and frequency of self-reported financial conflict in intimate partner relationships. Using a secondary data set, a clinical sample of 84 individuals who identified as married or in a relationship, completed the CFCS items. A principal components analysis (PCA) revealed that the eight-item CFCS is unidimensional (eigenvalue = 5.38), accounted for 67.21% of the variance, and had high internal reliability (α = .93). The CFCS was also significantly associated with two related constructs, relationship instability and emotional intimacy, demonstrating initial construct validity. A hierarchical regression was conducted and results showed that financial conflict was positively and significantly associated with relationship instability when controlling for several demographic variables. Lastly, a multiple linear regression was performed and determined that the biggest predictor of financial conflict in this clinical sample was education level. It was revealed that the higher the level of education attained, the less financial conflict was reported. All in all, initial tests suggest that the brief, eight-item Couple Financial Conflict Scale, contributes high levels of reliability and validity, and may be of value to practitioners and researchers working with couples.