The development and validation of an assessment of romantic relationship boundaries in young adults
Creators: name: Hutchison, Courtney
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2024

description: Relationship boundaries are a key mechanism through which young adults navigate their intimate relationships, setting terms for how to treat a partner, how they expect to be treated, and the extent to which they allow a partner’s thoughts, feelings, and actions to influence them (Altman, 1975; Cook, 2015). However, there are no validated measures that directly assess relationship boundaries, making it challenging to systematically study their impact on relational outcomes. To fill this gap in the literature, I developed novel assessments of romantic relationship boundaries, the Romantic Relationship Boundaries Scales (RRBS), and validated these scales in a population of young adults ages 18-26. Specifically, I employed a novel integration of attachment theory, complex trauma theory, and family systems work, conceptualizing romantic relationship boundaries in young adulthood as shaped by child experiences of relational safety or trauma in primary caregiver relationships. Drawing from this conceptualization, I used a mixed methods approach to develop and refine an initial item pool of questions that assess boundary attitudes, behaviors, and styles. Subsequently, I used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and tests of reliability and validity to revise this item pool and validate four unidimensional scales, each reflecting a different boundary style: Clear, Porous, Protective, and Controlling. Next, in a series of exploratory analyses, I examined if scale scores significantly differed by race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and length of relationship, and subsequently tested the relationship between scale scores and theoretically relevant covariates (i.e., child abuse, relationship quality, and dating violence (DV)) using ordinary least squares regression and logistic regression. Across analyses, RRBA scales demonstrated strong content validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and internal consistency (α ≥ .83). Moreover, boundary styles were significantly correlated with theoretically relevant outcomes as predicted, such that: (1) Clear boundaries were associated with higher relationship satisfaction (p&lt;.001), decreased odds of DV victimization (p&lt;.05) and DV perpetration (p&lt;.01), and not having experienced abuse as a child (p&lt;.01); (2) Porous boundaries were associated with lower relationship satisfaction (p&lt;.001) and increased odds of DV victimization (p&lt;.001); (3) Protective boundaries were associated with lower relationship satisfaction (p&lt;.001), increased odds of DV victimization (p&lt;.001), and having experienced abuse as a child (p&lt;.001); and (4) Controlling boundaries were associated with lower relationship satisfaction (p&lt;.001), and increased odds of DV victimization (p&lt;.001) and DV perpetration (p&lt;.001). Creating and validating an assessment of romantic relationship boundaries opens new avenues for empirically studying the role that relationship boundaries play in a range of psychosocial outcomes for young adults.