1. Authors: O’Leary, K.D. and Porter, B.
2. Name of Instrument: Overt Hostility/O’Leary-Porter Scale
3. Variables Measured: Parent’s perceptions of the frequency of
occurrence of positive and negative interactions displayed by spouses toward
each other in the presence of the child.
Items assess differences over discipline, complaints about each other,
physical or verbal abuse, displays of affection, etc.
4. Instrument Description: The scale is a 10-item scale using a 5-point
rating ranging from “never” to “very often”.
The scale is designed to assess the amount that parents openly argue in
the presence of their children. The
question format originally used asked parents to complete the scale by asking
the parents how often they disagreed about certain issues. More recently, Johnson and O’Leary (1987)
modified the format in order to assess the extent to which one parent believed
that he or she argued in front of the child.
The scale was originally designed in order to assess how this specific aspect
of a marriage that might predict child conduct
problems more accurately than general marital discord.
5. Sample Items:
How often has this child
heard you argue about the wife’s role in the family? (Housewife,
working wife, etc.)
How often do you complain to your
spouse about his/her personal habits in front of this child?
Husbands and wives often disagree on
the subject of discipline. How often do
you and your spouse argue over disciplinary problems in this child’s
presence?
6. Length: The scale contains 10 items. The first 9 items are keyed positively; the
10th item, regarding displays of affection, is keyed negatively.
7. Reliability: Cronbach’s alpha
for an earlier version of this scale on a sample of 65 volunteer community
parents was .86; test-retest reliability on this sample over a two-week period
was .96.
Validity: The correlation of this overt hostility scale
with the Locke Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale was .63 for a clinic sample of
25 boys and 25 girls (Emery and O’Leary, 1982).
The correlation of the Locke Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale and this
overt hostility scale was .43 in a nonclinic sample
(N=132) (Emery and O’Leary, 1984). Overt
hostility correlated .30 (significant) with conduct disorders in girls when the
reports of behavior were made by the mother (Johnson & O’Leary, 1987).
Similarly, there was a significant
correlation (.40) between overt hostility of parents toward each other and
conduct problems of young boys (<10 years) in the Porter and O’Leary (1980)
study. In addition, there were
significant correlations between the overt hostility scale and total pathology
for boys less than 10 (r=.45) and older than 10 (r=.43). It is not clear than the overt hostility
scale will ultimately predict conduct problems of children better than general
marital discord, though it has in the studies by Porter and O’Leary (1980) and
Johnson and O’Leary (1987).
8. Availability: The scale is available from Dr. K.D. O’Leary,
Psychology Department, Statue University of New York,
The
scale is also available through NAPS, National Auxiliary Publication Service
9. References: Some publications that
have used the Overt Hostility Scale include:
Porter, B., and
O’Leary, K.D. (1980). Marital discord and childhood behavior problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 8,
287-295.
Emery, R.E., and
O’Leary, K.D. (1982). Children’s perceptions of marital discord and behavior problems of
boys and girls. Journal of
Abnormal Child Psychology, 10, 11-24.
Emery, R.E., and
O’Leary, K.D. (1984). Marital
discord and child behavior problems in a nonclinic
sample. Journal of Abnormal Child
Psychology, 12, 411-420.
Johnson, P.L., and
O’Leary, K.D. (1987). Parental
behavior patterns and conduct problems in girls. Journal of Abnormal
Child Psychology.
Tesser,
A., Forehand, R. (1991). Adolescent
functioning: communication and the
buffering of parental anger. Journal
of Social & Clinical Psychology, 10(2), 152-175.
Matteson, K.J. Resiliency
and vulnerability: The role of
parent-child relationships in association with marital discord and girls’
adjustment. Dissertation Abstracts
International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, 55(10-B),
4608.
Corinne, D., Steele, R., Forehand,
R., Armistead, L. (1996). The role of family conflict and marital conflict in adolescent
functioning. Journal of Family
Violence, 11(1), 81-91.
Mann, B.J., MacKenzie,
E.P. (1996). Pathways
among marital functioning, parental behaviors, and child behavior problems in
school-age boys. Journal of
Clinical Child Psychology, 25(2), 183-191.
Ehrle,
G.M. (1998). Adjustment in children
being reared by grandparents because of substance abuse of their parents: A comparison of children from intact
families, divorced families, and guardian grandparent families. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B:
The Sciences & Engineering, 58 (8-B), 4489.
Goodrich, G.M. (1999). Evaluating a divorce
adjustment program: Kids connection
(program evaluation). Dissertation
Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, 60 (5-B),
2339.
Sherwood, H.B. (2001). Managing marital discord: Validating the parental management of
conflict scale. Dissertation
Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, 61 (10-B),
5581.
Zudiker, S.N. (2001). An object relations study
on post-divorce boys, interparental conflict, and
externalizing behaviors.
Dissertation Abstracts International:
Section B: The Sciences and
Engineering, 62(4-B), 2098.
Please
answer all of the following questions to the best of your ability. The questions refer to your son/daughter,
_________________, only.
1. It is difficult in these days of tight
budgets to confine financial discussions to specific times and places. How often would you say you and your spouse
argue over money matters in front of this child?
Never
_____ Rarely _____ Occasionally _____ Often _____ Very Often _____
2. Children often go to one parent for money or
permission to do something after having been refused by the other parent. How often would you say this child
approaches you or your spouse in this manner with rewarding results?
Never
_____ Rarely _____ Occasionally _____ Often _____ Very Often _____
3. Husbands and wives often disagree on the subject
of discipline. How often do you and your
spouse argue over disciplinary problems in this child’s presence?
Never
_____ Rarely _____ Occasionally _____ Often _____ Very Often _____
4. How often has this child heard you and
your spouse argue about the wife’s role in the family? (Housewife,
working wife, etc.).
Never
_____ Rarely _____ Occasionally _____ Often _____ Very Often _____
5. How often does your spouse complain to you
about your personal habit (drinking, nagging, sloppiness, etc.) in front of this
child?
Never
_____ Rarely _____ Occasionally _____ Often _____ Very Often _____
6. How often do you complain to your spouse
about his/her personal habits in front of this child?
Never
_____ Rarely _____ Occasionally _____ Often _____ Very Often _____
7. In every normal marriage there are
arguments. What percentage of the
arguments between you and your spouse would you say take place in front of this
child?
Never _____ Rarely _____ Occasionally _____ Often _____ Very Often _____
8. To varying degrees,
we all experience almost irresistible impulses in times of great stress. How often is there physical expression of
hostility between you and your spouse in front of this child?
Never
_____ Rarely _____ Occasionally _____ Often _____ Very Often _____
9. How often do you and/or your spouse display
verbal hostility in front of this child?
Never
_____ Rarely _____ Occasionally _____ Often _____ Very Often _____
10. How often do you and your spouse display
affection for each other in front of this child?
Never
_____ Rarely _____ Occasionally _____ Often _____ Very Often _____
Please
answer all of the following questions to the best of your ability. The questions refer to your son/daughter,
_________________, only.
1. It is difficult in these days of tight
budgets to confine financial discussions to specific times and places. How often would you say you and your spouse
argue over money matters in front of this child?
Never 4 Rarely
3 Occasionally 2 Often 1 Very Often 0
2. Children often go to one parent for money or
permission to do something after having been refused by the other parent. How often would you say this child
approaches you or your spouse in this manner with rewarding results?
Never 4
Rarely 3 Occasionally 2
Often 1 Very Often 0
3. Husbands and wives often disagree on the
subject of discipline. How often do you
and your spouse argue over disciplinary problems in this child’s presence?
Never 4
Rarely 3 Occasionally 2
Often 1 Very Often 0
4. How often has this child heard you and
your spouse argue about the wife’s role in the family? (Housewife,
working wife, etc.).
Never 4
Rarely 3 Occasionally 2
Often 1 Very Often 0
5. How often does your spouse complain to you
about your personal habit (drinking, nagging, sloppiness, etc.) in front of this
child?
Never 4
Rarely 3 Occasionally 2
Often 1 Very Often 0
6. How often do you complain to your spouse
about his/her personal habits in front of this child?
Never 4 Rarely
3 Occasionally 2
Often 1 Very Often 0
7. In every normal marriage there are
arguments. What percentage of the
arguments between you and your spouse would you say take place in front of this
child?
Never 4 Rarely 3
Occasionally 2 Often
1 Very Often 0
8. To varying degrees,
we all experience almost irresistible impulses in times of great stress. How often is there physical expression of
hostility between you and your spouse in front of this child?
Never 4
Rarely 3 Occasionally 2
Often 1 Very Often 0
9. How often do you and/or your spouse display
verbal hostility in front of this child?
Never 4
Rarely 3 Occasionally 2
Often 1 Very Often 0
10. How often do you and your spouse display
affection for each other in front of this child?
Never 0
Rarely 1 Occasionally 2
Often 3 Very Often 4