Portuguese Adaptation and Validation of the Fisher Divorce Adjustment Scale – Short Form to Assess Adjustment to Breakup During Emerging Adulthood

Figures & data

Table 1. Participants demographics (n = 579).

Variables
Age, M years ± SD (min–max)	22.87 ± 3.81 (17–36)
Gender, n (%)
Female	435 (75.1%)
Male	138 (23.8%)
Educational level, n (%)
Lower education (≤ 12 years)	280 (48.7%)
Higher education (≥ Bachelor’s degree)	299 (51.6%)
Professional situation, n (%)
Employed	93 (16.1%)
Unemployed	10 (1.7%)
Student	386 (66.8%)
Student-worker	89 (15.4%)
Financial situation, n (%)
Lower (Spends less money than receives)	391 (67.5%)
Medium (Spends all the money that receives)	144 (24.9%)
Higher (Spends more money than receives)	44 (7.6%)
Relationship status, n (%)
Single	420 (72.5%)
Single with an undefined partner	84 (14.5%)
Dating	75 (13.0%)
Significant breakups lifetime, M years ± SD (min–max)	1.94 ± 1.26 (1–16)
Ex-relationship duration, M years ± SD (min–max)	2.47 ± 2.22 (.08–12.17)
Ex-relationship exclusivity (1 nothing − 5 totally), M years ± SD	4.72 ± .88
Cohabiting with ex-partner, n (%)
Yes	84 (14.5%)
No	495 (85.5%)
Cohabiting Duration, M years ± SD (min–max)	2.24 ± 2.16 (0–11.92)
Contact with ex-partner, n (%)
Never	200 (34.5%)
Rarely	153 (26.4%)
Sometimes	120 (20.7%)
Several times	65 (11.2%)
Always	41 (7.1%)
The initiator status, n (%)
Initiator	209 (36.1%)
Non-initiator	265 (45.8%)
Both	105 (18.1%)
Time since separation, M months ± SD (min–max)	5.87 ± 4.16 (0–19)

Table 2. Standardized factor loadings of Portuguese items of FDAS-SF.

Items (Portuguese items)	F1	F2	F3	F4
Disentanglement from Ex-partner
7. I believe if we try, my love-partner and I can save our love-relationship (Acredito que, se ambos tentássemos, poderíamos salvar a nossa relação)	.822
8. My abdomen feels empty and hollow (Sinto um vazio dentro de mim)	.564	.320
9. I have feelings of romantic love for my former love-partner (Ainda tenho sentimentos românticos pelo/a meu/minha ex-parceiro/a)	1.027
12. I become upset when I think about my love-partner having a love-relationship with someone else (Fico perturbada quando penso que o/a meu/minha ex-parceiro/a possa estar envolvido/a com outra pessoa)	.683			.211
15. I feel emotionally committed to my former love-partner (Sinto que ainda estou emocionalmente ligado/a ao/à meu/minha ex-parceiro/a)	.919
17. I can’t believe our love-relationship is ending (Não consigo acreditar que a nossa relação chegou ao fim)	.729
Feeling of self-worth
10. I can make the decisions I need to because I know and trust my feelings (Sinto-me capaz de tomar s decisões que preciso porque sei que posso confiar nos meus sentimentos)		.781
13. I feel capable of facing and dealing with my problems (Sinto-me capaz de enfrentar e lidar com os meus problemas)		.873
18. I feel I have a normal amount of self-confidence (Sinto-me autoconfiante)		.796
20. I feel emotionally insecure. (Sinto-me emocionalmente inseguro/a.)		.638
22. I feel like I am going crazy. (Sinto que estou a enlouquecer.)	.205	.428		.227
Social Trust
6. I feel uncomfortable even thinking about dating (Sinto-me desconfortável só de pensar em novas relações ou encontros românticos)	.205		.582
14. I am afraid of becoming sexually involved with another person (Tenho receio de me envolver sexualmente com outra pessoa)			.992
16. I am afraid of becoming emotionally close to another love-partner (Tenho receio de me envolver emocionalmente com outra pessoa)		.151	.579
21. I feel uncomfortable even thinking about having a sexual relationship (Sinto-me desconfortável só de pensar em ter um novo relacionamento sexual)			.961
Anger
2. I feel like unloading my feelings of anger and hurt upon my former love-partner (Tenho vontade de descarregar os meus sentimentos de raiva e dor no meu/minha ex-parceiro/a)				.759
3. I hope my former love-partner is feeling as much or more emotional pain than I am (Espero que o/a meu/minha ex-parceiro/a esteja a sofrer tanto ou maus do que eu)				.797
4. I easily become angry at my former love-partner (Fico facilmente zangado/a com o/a meu/minha ex-parceiro/a)				.754
11. I would like to get even with my former love-partner for hurting me (Tenho vontade de me vingar do/a meu/minha ex-parceiro/a)				.809

Figure 1. CFA with standardized regression weights and measurement error terms for the Portuguese version of FDAS-SF. Note. F1 – disentanglement from ex-partner; F2 – feeling of self-worth; F3 – social trust; F4 – anger.

Table 3. Reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of FDAS-SF.

	Reliability (ω)	AVE	F1	F2	F3	F4
F1 – Disentanglement from ex-partner	.93	.65	.80
F2 – Feeling of self-worth	.83	.51	.64	.84
F3 – Social Trust	.89	.66	.55	.47	.73
F4 – Anger	.85	.57	.45	.47	.25	.75

Note. AVE – average variance extracted; Reliability (ω) – McDonald’s Omega; Maximum shared variance (MSV) is presented on the diagonal in bold, while correlations between factors are presented on the lower diagonal.

Table 4. Concurrent validity using correlations between FDAS-SF and scales of attachment (ECR-S), depression (PHQ-9), and differentiation of self (DSI-SF).

	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
1. FDAS-SF	−.404**	−455**	−.139**	−548**	.429**	−433**	.288**	.056	.399**
2. FDAS_F1	−.232**	−.334**	.000	−.402**	.217**	.268**	.108*	−.087	.253**
3. FDAS_F2	−.453**	−.471**	−.198**	−.583**	.577**	.604**	.435**	.139**	.440**
4. FDAS_F3	−.307**	−.293**	−.164**	−.425**	.306**	.262**	.180**	.120**	.302**
5. FDAS_F4	−.361**	−.360**	−.175**	−.357**	.355**	.287**	.296**	.120**	.306**
6. ECR-S	-	.780**	.725**	.461**	−.561**	−.360**	−.421**	−.481**	−.438**
7. ECR_Anx		-	.133**	.460**	−540**	−.406**	−.444**	−.112*	−.542**
8. ECR_Avo			-	.237**	−.298**	−.126**	−.182**	−.643**	−.99*
9. PHQ-9				-	−.509**	−.468**	−.352**	−.225**	−.419**
10. DSI-SF					-	.800**	.821**	.394**	.849**
11. DSI_IP						-	.533**	.103*	.563**
12. DSI_FO							-	.193**	.631**
13. DSI_EC								-	.141**
14. DSI_ER									-

Note. i. FDAS-SF – Adjustment to breakup; FDAS_F1 – Disentanglement from ex-partner; FDAS_F2 – Feeling of self-worth; FDAS_F3 – Social Trust; FDAS_F4 – Anger; ECR-S – Insecure attachment; ECR_Anx – Anxious attachment; ECR_Avo – Avoidant attachment; PHQ-9 – Depressive symptoms; DSI-SF – Differentiation of self; DSI_IP – I-Position; DSI_FO – Fusion with others; DSI_EC – Emotional Cutoff; DSI_ER – Emotional Reactivity. ii. *p<.05; **p<.001.

Table 5. Model fit of the invariance on FDAS-SF Portuguese version across gender, education, and initiator status.

	Model	CFI	RMSEA	∆CFI	∆RMSEA
Gender	Configural Invariance	0,930	0,055	-	-
	Metric Invariance	0,928	0,054	0,002	0,001
	Scalar Invariance	0,928	0,053	0,002	0,002
	Residual Invariance	0,921	0,054	0,009	0,001
Education	Configural Invariance	0,933	0,053	-	-
	Metric Invariance	0,933	0,052	0	0,001
	Scalar Invariance	0,932	0,051	0,001	0,002
	Residual Invariance	0,930	0,050	0,003	0,003
Initiator status	Configural Invariance	0,936	0,042	-	-
	Metric Invariance	0,934	0,041	0,002	0,001
	Scalar Invariance	0,931	0,041	0,005	0,001
	Residual Invariance	0,925	0,042	0,011	0

Note. i. The measurement invariance across gender is the average of the invariance analysis between female (n = 435) and male (n = 138) groups; The measurement invariance across education level is the average of the invariance analysis between lower (n = 280) and higher education (n = 299) groups; The measurement invariance across education level is the average of the invariance analysis between initiators (n = 209), non-initiators (n = 265), and mutual decision (n = 105) groups. ii. CFI – Comparative fit index; RMSEA – Root mean square error of approximation; Δ – change from the previous model.

Table 6. Independent group t-test results comparing gender and education level groups.

	Gender								Education
	Female (n = 435)		Male (n = 138)						Lower (n = 280)		Higher (n = 299)
	M	SD	M	SD	t	df	p	d	M	SD	M	SD	t (df)	df	p	d
FDAS-SF	68.33	17.29	71.94	17.19	−2.14	571	.033	.21	70.17	16.59	68.41	17.96	1.23	576.90	.223	-
FDAS_F1	23.02	8.75	23.29	8.06	−.32	571	.751	-	23.74	8.34	22.57	8.78	1.64	576.88	.101	-
FDAS_F2	16.97	4.41	17.40	4.96	−.89	210.09	.376	-	17.22	4.44	16.98	4.64	.63	577	.530	-
FDAS_F3	12.16	5.16	14.11	4.64	−4.20	253.24	<.001	.58	12.71	5.06	12.60	5.15	.25	577	.805	-
FDAS_F4	16.16	3.82	17.14	4.19	−2.54	571	.011	.44	16.27	3.84	16.27	4.01	.74	577	.457	-

Note. i. FDAS-SF – Adjustment to breakup; FDAS_F1 – Disentanglement from ex-partner; FDAS_F2 – Feeling of self-worth; FDAS_F3 – Social Trust; F4 – Anger. ii. Significant values are depicted in bold (p < .05). ii. d – Effect size using Cohen’s d.

Table 7. One-way ANOVA results comparing initiation status groups.

			Initiator status
	Initiators^a (n = 209)		Non-initiators^b (n = 265)		Mutual^c (n = 105)
	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	F	dfb, dfw	p	η^2 p	Post-hoc
FDAS-SF	76.46	15.45	63.18	16.95	70.29	16.16	39.15	2, 576	<.001	.12	a>c>b*
FDAS_F1	27.0	7.40	20.19	8.65	22.85	7.64	42.02	2, 576	<.001	.13	a>c>b*
FDAS_F2	18.36	4.35	16.02	4.32	17.29	4.84	16.37	2, 576	<.001	.05	a>b*, b<c*
FDAS_F3	13.62	4.96	11.61	5.16	13.36	4.80	10.59	2, 576	<.001	.04	a>b*, b<c*
FDAS_F4	17.49	3.18	15.36	4.31	16.79	3.62	19.02	2, 576	<.001	.06	a>b*, b<c*

Note. i. FDAS-SF – Adjustment to breakup; FDAS_F1 – Disentanglement from ex-partner; FDAS_F2 – Feeling of self-worth; FDAS_F3 – Social Trust; F4 – Anger. ii. Column headings letters (a, b, c) were used to indicate sig nificant differences in the post-hoc column. iii. Significant values are depicted in bold (*p < .05). iv. η² _p – Effect size using partial eta squared.

Data availability statement

The data are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author JGF.