The Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI): current and potential uses with family systems

The search for and measurement of important relationship qualities have always been of interest to family therapists. Within a Rogerian perspective, empathy, regard, and congruence are believed to be among the most important indicators of the quality of human relationships. These variables, or conceptually similar ones, are also important in several current models of family functioning. Barrett-Lennard (1,2) developed an instrument, the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI), to measure empathy, regard, and congruence. Although the major use of the BLRI has been in psychotherapy outcome research (13), several studies have shown that it is a sensitive indicator of marital satisfaction and of changes occurring in marital-improvement programs. The present study is a factor analysis of the BLRI based on data from 345 women who rated levels of empathy, regard, and congruence in their relationship with their husbands. The results robustly confirm the three-factor structure of the BLRI in what is believed to be the first factor analysis in the context of a family member rating a relationship within the family. The replication of the BLRI's structure in a new relationship context suggests that the dimensions tapped by the BLRI may have some generality and warrant further exploration in a family-systems context. Several advantages of the BLRI over other currently available instruments are discussed, as are potential uses of the BLRI in systems research beyond the marital unit.