Dyadic Coping Inventory

Dyadic coping refers to the efforts taken by couples to cope together during stressful situations. Earlier studies indicate that dyadic coping improves well-being, relationship satisfaction, adjustment, relational resilience, willingness to sacrifice, emotional maturity, and mental health among couples. Dyadic coping inventory (DCI; Bodenmann G (2008) Dyadisches Coping Inventar (DCI). Test manual [Dyadic Coping Inventory (DCI). Test manual]. Bern, Göttingen: Huber &Hogrefe. https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2021.1936743 ) is a 37-item self-report inventory developed originally in German. It is used to assess partners’ stress communication and coping efforts when one or both partners in a relationship experience stress. It particularly measures couples’ self-report of their own coping (DC by self), their partner's coping (DC by partner), and their cooperative efforts in coping (common DC) when they experience a common stressor. In the present study, using a sample of 340 married heterosexual couples, we tested the validity of the Tamil version of DCI (DCI-T) in the Indian cultural context. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the DCI-T with 29 items fit the data well for models involving oneself (χ2 (44) = 81.05; CFI = .97; RMSEA = .04; SRMR = .04), partner (χ2 (44) = 99.88; CFI = .96; RMSEA = .05; SRMR = .04) and common models ((χ2 (4) = 2.28; CFI = 1.00; RMSEA = .00; SRMR = .01). Measurement invariance analysis showed that the conditions of dyadic invariance were met for the factor structure and factor loadings. Besides, the DCI-T showed good convergence with moderate association with relationship satisfaction, dyadic adjustment, and communication pattern. The internal consistency in the present study was found to be 0.92 for husbands and 0.91 for wives. We conclude that DCI-T could be used in the Indian cultural context.