The Relation of Rigidity Across Relationships With Symptoms and Functioning: An Investigation With the Revised...

The belief that rigidity across relationships is related to greater symptoms and poorer functioning commonly informs the practice of many psychodynamic and interpersonal therapists. Using a profile correlation approach, we tested this hypothesis in a sample of 250 clients and 90 undergraduate control participants. Symptoms and functioning were assessed with the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), Global Assessment of Functioning scale, and Brief Symptom Inventory. A revised version of the empirically-derived Central Relationship Questionnaire (CRQ) was used to measure interpersonal patterns. Revisions were made to the CRQ to increase the interpersonal dimensions it captured, reduce its length, and model a higher-order factor structure. The psychometric properties of the revised CRQ were found to be adequate. Rigidity as measured with the CRQ was not related to rigidity measured with the IIP (amplitude) and did not differ significantly among individuals with different interpersonal problems or DSM-IV diagnoses. Contrary to theory, however, greater rigidity across relationships was related to fewer symptoms and interpersonal problems. These relations did not appear due to the valence or the extremeness of the interpersonal patterns used in the estimation of rigidity.