Contemporary Family Therapy (2020) 42:140–151
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-019-09517-6

ORIGINAL PAPER

Adaptation of the Couples Satisfaction Index into Russian

Ilya A. Okhotnikov1· Nathan D. Wood2

Published online: 1 November 2019 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019

Abstract

The commonly used double translation method fails to provide evidence for cross-cultural equivalence of instruments used in multicultural research thus increasing measurement error-variance. This study exemplified the rigorous acculturation steps needed to negate this cross-cultural error-variance by verifying cultural appropriateness and psychometric equivalence between the instruments. Through application of a cutting-edge adaptation methodology, we created a Russian version of the 16-item Couple Satisfaction Index (CSI; Funk and Rogge in J Fam Psychol 21:572–583, 2007) that is semantically, idiomatically, experientially, conceptually, and linguistically equivalent to the original scale. Next, using the data from 406 Russian-speaking respondents, we employed parallel and exploratory factor analyses to explore the factorial structure of the adapted version subsequently named CSI-16(Russian). Internal reliability and convergent validity with another measure used frequently in Russian scholarship were high. Additionally, results suggested that couples’ satisfaction—when assessed as a unidimensional phenomenon—is similar across the two cultures in spite of linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic differences between the cultures. The CSI-16(Russian) can be used in comparative cross-cultural studies with sufficient assurance of high convergent linguistic reliability and psychometric similarity with the original CSI scale. Keywords Couples satisfaction · Cross-cultural · Eastern European families · Measurement · Psychometrics · Russian families

Available read-only from https://rdcu.be/b3Eha

Design and testing of Strain Measuring Amplifier’s Active Filter System (SMAAFS)

By Ilya A. Okhotnikov
Kalashnikov Izhevsk State Technical University, Izhevsk, Russia

1994

Electrical Engineer Degree, Concentration in Building Technology for Radio Electronics.

Degree Project Title: Design and Evaluation of a Specialized Strain Measuring Amplifier (Translated from Russian by Author)

Introduction. The main purpose of this engineering project was designing and testing of the Specialized Strain Measuring Amplifier’s Active Filter System (SMAAFS). The SMAAFS registers parameters of high-speed low voltage processes in heavy-duty press/metalworking machines' functioning. This project's literature review included a Russian patent-system search from January 1965 to February 1994 finding no identical or similar devices registered.

Method. The first part of the project was the design of a high-quality channel-measuring amplifier for strain and other generators for electronic components of heavy-duty press/metalworking machines. The second part was the design, exploration, and testing of low-frequency filters (LFF) for SMAAFS. All analyses were conducted using IBM PC/AT electronic circuit analysis program MICRO-CAP III. The third part consisted of developing a business plan.

Results. The project resulted in detecting the LFF optimum parameters that were statistically significantly different from zero. The main positive outcome of the project was the empirical discovery of the electronic components' parameters that lead to minimizing the measuring time, meaningful completion of the technical specification goals, and decreasing of costs related to the production of the SMAAFS.

Conclusion. The economic innovation of the project was developed and presented to the Defence Committee in the form of a business plan. The analyzed economic context and outcome offered possible benefits from using the SMAAFS. The project contains 102 pages, 26 illustrations, 7 tables, 29 sources.

http://inter.istu.ru/istu

Okhotnikov, I.A., & Wood, N.D. (2018, April). Relational Spirituality Pathway across Two Cultures. Poster presented at the University of Kentucky School of Human and Environmental Sciences Graduate Student Research Day, Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.A.

Before learning from other cultures, a certain level of understanding about relational processes in those cultures is imperative for educators, therapists, policymakers, practitioners, and others. Being guided by Relational Spirituality Framework (Mahoney, 2010), this study tested a Model of Couples’ Relational Religiosity that included positive relationship processes (relational virtues) such as commitment, sacrifice, forgiveness, and attitudes toward sanctification of marriage, as well as equality between spouses (partners) using a North American sample (n = 1,529) and Russian sample (n = 529). Results provided new knowledge on relational processes across two cultures indicating links between five-factor religiosity being mediated by relational virtues, equality to couple’s satisfaction suggesting meaningful variations between and within cultures and sexes.

Okhotnikov, I. A. (2017, January). Personality and Relationships. Lecture presented at Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL.png

Adaptation of the Couples Satisfaction Index to Russian

Globalization and increasing awareness of multiculturalism affect scholars’ effectiveness in providing high quality theory and research on families in contexts. In fact, this awareness has exponentially increased cross-cultural studies since the 1990s (Sireci, 2005). Some studies have involved comparisons between cultural groups, including couple relationships studies. Given increasing multiculturalism and strong associations between relationship satisfaction and adults’ personal well-being (Antonov, 1998; Amato & Kane, 2011; Bryant & Conger, 2002; Carr & Springer, 2010; Coontz, 2007; Heene, Buysee, & Van Oost, 2007; Hughes & Waite, 2009; Previti & Amato, 2004) and their children’s outcomes (Amato, 2000; Amato & Cheadle, 2005; Barrett & Turner, 2005), it is of upmost importance for researchers to have a relationship satisfaction tool that provides both semantic equivalence and methodological rigor in other languages. Adaptation is pursued when the technical expertise of measurement-oriented practices in psychometrics or resources to create a measure in other cultures/languages might not be available. Why adaptation? Because it allows for opportunities to answer a question, do couples experience satisfaction differently between countries/cultures?

Reference:
Okhotnikov, I. A., & Wood, N. D. (2017, November). Adaptation of the Couples Satisfaction Index to Russian. Paper presented at the 2017 National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference. Orlando, FL, U.S.A.

Moral injury: Spouses as catalysts for well-being

Moral injury is a relatively new concept, recognized within the last two decades, that addresses wounds to morality related to experiencing violent acts during military combat (Shay, 1994). Spouses are well-positioned to be engaged and empathetic when physical and psychological injuries are sustained in wartime and these same beneficial understandings may assist when moral injury is incurred. Since morals are often developed within religious traditions or spiritual practices taught within families, we argue that spouses have great potential to be catalysts for their soldier’s moral and spiritual healing/strengthening upon their return home from war (Fontana & Rosenheck, 2004).
Reference:
Westmoreland, A. & Okhotnikov, I. A. (2017, November). Moral injury: Spouses in Military Families as Catalysts for Well-Being. Poster presented at the 2017 National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference. Orlando, FL, U.S.A.

Effect of Religiousness on Marital Quality as Mediated by Commitment and Equality

Reference: Okhotnikov, I. A., Kisnan, A, & Hans J. D. (2016, November). Effects of Religiousness on Marital Quality as Mediated by Commitment and Equality. Paper presented at the 2016 National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference. Minneapolis, MN, U.S.A.

Conflicts, Risk, and Resilience in Transition to Parenthood

Abstract
A significant decline (40-70%) in marital quality (MQ) among new parents in Transition to Parenthood (TtP) is well documented in scholarship (Gottman & Notarius, 2000; HelmsErikson, 2001; Kluwer, 2010; Mitnick, Heyman, & Smith Slep, 2009; Twenge, Campbell, & Foster, 2003; Umberson, Pudrovska, & Reczek, 2010; Wallace & Gotlib, 1990). Aims of this literature review is to present a systemic overview of couples' characteristics, contextual and relationship factors and processes; domains and areas for couples resilience; and parental education and intervention programs for the purpose of informing community leaders and organizations for making a positive change for couples in TtP.


Reference
Okhotnikov, I. A. (2015, November). Conflict, Risk, and Resilience in Transition to Parenthood. Poster presented at the 2015 National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference, Vancouver, Canada. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.1264.7449

Dyadic Analyses of Couples' Daily Reports of Love and Sexual Satisfaction by Mark, K. P., Okhotnikov, I. A., & Wood, N. D.

Integrating family systems, symbolic interactionism, and Sternberg’s (1986) triangle theory of love, this study dyadically analyzed the relationship between feelings of love toward the partner on the person’s own and partner’s sexual satisfaction. Daily data from 89 mixed-sex distinguishable dyads were collected over 30 continuous days. APIM results suggested a statistically significant positive relationship between experiencing love for the partner on a person’s own as well as their partner’s sexual satisfaction. There were no statistically significant differences between men and women on the magnitude of the effects. Results of the study are informative for researchers, counselors, educators, therapists, and other practitioners.

Reference: Mark, K. P., Okhotnikov, I. A., & Wood, N. D. (2006, November). Dyadic Analyses of Couples' Daily Reports of Love and Sexual Satisfaction. A ​p​oster presented at the​ conference of​ National Council on Family Relations, Minneapolis, MN​, U.S.A.​

Okhotnikov, I. A. (2014). Russian Families at the Nexus of Global Change: Evolution, Revolution, Reformation. Poster presented at the National Council on Family Relations, Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.

Throughout its history, Russian people have been under oppressive regimes of Tsars, Russian Orthodox Church, Communism, and “sovereign democracy” (Matvienko, 2008). These shifts have had concomitant changes in the definition of relational health. Thus, Russian family development can be broadly divided into three large chronological stages: (a) evolution, before 1917; (b) revolution, between 1917 and 1990; and (c) reformation, after 1990 (Antonov & Medkov, 1996). However, due to the rejection of psychology as a science USSR leadership, studying psychology required a special authorization from the government (Umrikhin, 1991). As a result, data related to relationship formation and health is scant prior to 1970 making the cultural and social context in the first two chronological stages instructive.
The evolution of Russian family from the times of Leo Tolstoy, (19th century) up to 1917 were characterized by the dominance of the Russian Orthodox Church and the patriarchal structure of the society left little room for women to have their voices, rights, or public activity with pre-arranged marriages as a common practice. This approach to marriage was overturned in the October Socialist Revolution in 1917.
The revolutionary period emphasized gender and class equality that resulted in structural functionalism as the model for a successful marriage including a strong ideological drive for women’s labor outside and inside the home. This model was predominant up to the turn of the 21st century and still dominant in the majority of the Russian population (Gavrov, 2009). Mate selection was influenced by the family of origin to some extent and the Soviet agenda. According to soviet ideals, a happy family had a husband who did not abuse alcohol, shared household chores, and was a trustworthy breadwinner (Pushkareva, 2012). The wife having to fulfill expressive function also had to work full time and was in charge of the household’s dynamics and homework (LaFont, 2001). Additionally, in exchange for women’s labor the Soviet government provided free childcare and schooling, indoctrinating children and adolescents in collectivistic preferences and values, including the “ideal” Soviet family, thereby institutionalizing the definition of family (Uspenskaya & Borodin (2004).
The current shift of relational values seen in Russia started around the mid-1980s and culminated in the drastic collapse of the USSR in 1991 liberating the definition of family from ideological regulation. Increased freedom of mate selection, sexual freedom, and egalitarian roles became more prevalent in marriage, especially in large cities (Vishnevskiy, Zakharov, & Ivanova, 2008). Tsirkon (2013) suggests that the contemporary Russian family is heterogeneous nuclear with one or two children dual-earner with recognized male leadership and officially registered union.
Recommended Methods
Due to the dramatic changes in the macro cultural/political environments, relationship assessment is a complex affair. Expectations for what constitutes a “good” relationship could include elements of patriarchy, communist informed expectations of equality and family size, conservative attitudes toward fidelity and family forms, in addition to more “liberated” expectations to marry by choice. Clearly, more work needs to be done.

References
Antonov, A.I. & Medkov, V.M. (1996). Социология семьи [Sociology of family]. Retrieved from: http://socioline.ru/pages/aiantonov-vmmedkov-sotsiologiya-semi
Brocgaus F. & Efron I. (1895). Krestyane [Peasants]. In The Brocgaus and Efron Encyclopedia. (Vol. 16a, pp 675-725). St.Petersburg, Russia: I.A. Efron. Available from: http://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81:Encyclopedicheskii_slovar_tom_16_a.djvu
Dmitrieva, O. (2010, April 14). В декрет идут мама, и папа [And mom, and dad take maternity leave]. Российская газета. Retrieved from: http://www.rg.ru/2010/04/14/dekret.html
Gavrov, S.N. (2009). Историческая эволюция институтов семьи и брака [Historical change of marriage and family institutions]. Retrieved from: http://lit.lib.ru/g/gawrow_s_n/sergeygavrovhistoricalevolutionoftheinstitutionsofmarriageandfamily.shtml
Kudryashova, E. (2014, January 13). Налог на бездетность [Tax on childlessness]. Летидор. Retrieved from: http://letidor.ru/article/nalog_na_bezdetnost_92841/
LaFont, S. (2001). One step forward, two steps back: Women in the post-communist states. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 34, 203-220. doi:10.1016/S0967-067X(01)00006-X
Matvienko, Y. (2008). Институционально-правовые модели легитимации суверенной демократии в современной России [Institutionally Legal Modules of Legitimatizing of Sovereign Democracy in Contemporary Russia]. (Doctoral Thesis, Rostov Juridical University of Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rostov-on-Don, Russia). Retrieved from: http://law.edu.ru/book/book.asp?bookID=1292726
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2013, April) Russia: Modernising the Economy. Retrieved from: http://www.oecd.org/russia/Russia-Modernising-the-Economy-EN.pdf
Prigadov-Kudrin, A. I. (1922). Брачное право и наследование [Marital law and inheritance]. Ezhenedelnik sovetskoi ustitsii, 12. Avalible from: http://www.prlib.ru/Lib/pages/item.aspx?itemid=78008
Pushkareva N.L. (2003). Женщины в исторических судьбах России X-XIX вв. [Women in historical providences of Russia of 10th – 19th centuries]. Женщина плюс, 2. Retrieved from: http://www.owl.ru/win/womplus/2003/02_13.htm
Pushkareva N.L. (2012). Гендерная система Советской России и судьбы россиянок [System of genders in Soviet Russia and density of Russia’s women]. Новое литературное обозрение, 117(5). Retrieved from: http://www.nlobooks.ru/node/2613
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Uspenskaya, V. I., & Borodin, D. Y. (2004). Family relations in 20th century Russia as a projection of popular beliefs, scholarly discourse and state policies. Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, 5, 237-248. doi:10.1016/S1530-3535(04)05015-0
Vishnevskiy, A., Zakharov, S., & Ivanova, E. (2008). Эволюция российской семьи [Evolution of Russian family]. Экология и жизнь, 9. Retrieved from: http://elementy.ru/lib/430652
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Hans, J. D., & Okhotnikov, I. (2015, November). Attitudes toward posthumous reproduction among Christians. Paper presented at the National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Abstract
Variations in attitudes toward assisted posthumous reproduction within and across the most prevalent Christian denominations in the United States were examined using a national probability sample of 967 Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, Mainline Protestants, and non-religious individuals. Both religion and religiosity had predictable effects on attitudes based on theological tenants within each religion. For example, more highly religious individuals held less favorable attitudes toward assisted posthumous reproduction, and Protestants held more favorable attitudes than Catholics but less favorable attitudes than non-religious individuals. Importantly however, a majority of both high and lower religiosity respondents from each religious denomination believed that the requested procedure should be allowed regardless of whether they heard about a scenario involving cryopreserved sperm or posthumous sperm retrieval.

PATHWAYS FROM RELIGIOSITY TO COUPLE’S SATISFACTION THROUGH RELATIONAL VIRTUES AND EQUALITY IN TWO CULTURES

Ilya A. Okhotnikov, University of Kentucky
Year of Publication 2018
Degree Name: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Abstract

To explore relational processes of couple’s satisfaction this study drew on the relational spirituality framework (Mahoney, 2010) in order to test a relational religiosity model to evaluate the effects of public, private, ideological, intellectual, and experiential religiosity that were mediated by relational virtues of commitment, sacrifice, forgiveness, and sanctification and relational equality on couple’s satisfaction in two cultures. Data for this component used convenience samples of English-speaking respondents (hereafter American sample; n = 1,529) and Russian-speaking respondents (hereafter Russian sample; n = 529). Results provided evidence to partially support relational religiosity model; specifically commitment, while a statistically significant intervening element, worked alongside other relational virtues such as (a) sanctification, as hypothesized, to positively mediate the indirect effect of ideological religiosity on couple’s satisfaction for the American men, (β = .17, 95% BCa CI [.11, .24], p < .001); (b) sanctification, as hypothesized, to positively mediate the indirect effect of experiential religiosity for the Russian men (β = .39, 95% BCa CI [.12, .65], p = .002); and (c) sacrifice and forgiveness, contrary to the hypotheses, to negatively mediate the indirect (β = -.20, 95% BCa CI [-.35, -.06], p = .005) and total (β = -.27, 95% BCa CI [-.43, -.12], p = .001) effects of ideological religiosity on couple’s satisfaction among Russian women.

The second approach to this topic followed the family systems perspective, to examine the effect of religiosity on respondents’ own and their partners’ satisfaction with the relationship via the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006). This dyadic approach used samples of 435 American couples (n = 870) and 129 Russian couples (n = 258). The results provided evidence to support an actor effect of husbands’ religiosity on their own couple’s satisfaction for the American (t = 2.00, p = .046, β = .15, 95% CI [.01, .29]) and Russian (t = 3.65, p < .001, β = .45, 95% CI [.21, .70]) husbands. Moreover, APIM testing provided sufficient evidence to support a positive partner effect in that husband’s religiosity predicted their wives’ satisfaction with the relationship in the American (t = 2.06, p = .041, β = .17, 95% CI [.01, .33]) and Russian (t = 2.77, p = .006, β = .37, 95% CI [.11, .64]) couples. The parallels between the cultures strongly resembled existing cross-cultural dyadic scholarship providing compelling evidence to support cultural similarities rather than differences and suggesting that cross-cultural relational dissimilarities might not exist in the ways religiosity is linked to couple’s satisfaction; however, the differences between male and female respondents in each culture might be worth studying further. Additionally, this dissertation’s results and scholarship mentioned above reveal that religiosity and couple’s satisfaction may be indifferent to cultural variations suggesting these phenomena may be universal rather than culture-specific. Outcomes of this dissertation may benefit researchers, educators, policymakers, and practitioners who are interested in relationship virtues and religiosity's effect on couple’s satisfaction, which is known to provide a positive connection to the psychological, social, physical, and spiritual well-being of couples.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2018.453

https://uknowledge.uky.edu/hes_etds/67