The Psychometric Characteristics of the IPR Inventory: Data from Rural Western Australia

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although there is evidence of the psychometric adequacy of the Interpersonal Relationships Inventory (IPRI), the scale was validated on urban North American samples and may function differently in populations that do not share urban United States attitudes toward the giving and receiving of social support. OBJECTIVES: To determine the psychometric characteristics of the IPRI in a sample of rural Australians and compare our findings to previous studies. METHOD: A survey containing the IPRI, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, and a 4-point self-rating measure of physical health was posted to residents of rural communities in Western Australia. The 382 respondents who returned usable surveys had a mean age of 44 years and 71% of them were female. RESULTS: The essential findings of the original IPRI study were replicated. The social support and the conflict subscales were shown to be valid and internally consistent; the reciprocity subscale was internally consistent but its validity was equivocal. Support and conflict proved to be good predictors of severity of depression, and each of the three subscales could reliably discriminate among groups who rated their physical health as poor, fair, good, or excellent. CONCLUSION: The consistent results across the two studies provide further evidence for the psychometric adequacy of the IPRI and suggest that Western societies, urban or rural, interpret and manifest the constructs of support, reciprocity, and conflict in much the same ways.