Testing a Modified Version of the Spenn-Fisher Codependency Scale

Abstract

The article presents the adaptation process of the modified Spenn-Fisher code of co-dependence, which allows to measure the severity of co-dependency. The study was conducted on a sample of students (N=227) and cadets (N=38) of higher educational institutions. The theoretical construct of codependency as a psychosocial state, which includes an external locus of control, a tendency to suppress emotions and an increased importance of interpersonal relationships, confirmed by the data of cluster analysis. The questionnaire showed acceptable rates of both reliability-consistency and retest reliability. The constructive validity of the methodology was confirmed by significant correlations that substantiate underlying construct of codependency. The high level of codependency positively correlates with the external locus of control, the suppression of emotions, anxiety, and negatively correlates with the affective component of interpersonal relations, the benevolence of the external world and beliefs about control. The psychometric data obtained during the study are largely consistent with the results of the authors of the original scale and indicate a successful adaptation of the methodology in the Russian sample.

Keywords

• codependency
• adaptation
• Modified Spenn–Fisher codependency scale
• emotional suppression
• locus of control
• psychodiagnostics
• psychometric