Potential Questions for MSI-R Interviews
Listed below are some questions that you can ask in the interview that you will conduct with
each member of your volunteer couple for the MSI-R project. If possible, try to conduct each
interview before administering the MSI-R questionnaires. However, if you need to conduct one
or both interviews after administration of the questionnaires (e.g., to best accommodate the
couple’s schedule), that’s okay.
Remember to interview each member of the couple separately. The list of potential questions
below is not exhaustive; you may think of other questions you wish to ask instead of/in addition
to some of these. An important thing to keep in mind is that you do not want to ask about
anything that could be very upsetting or that is a highly sensitive issue. If a volunteer appears
upset by a particular question, do not probe further into that area and move on to another issue
after you have checked that (s)he is okay. Also, if a volunteer offers any information about a
sensitive subject, you can make note of it but do not probe further (e.g., a person says “My father
was an alcoholic.” — you can note this, but DO NOT go on to ask further details about this).
Make sure each member of the couple reads and signs their own informed consent form for the
project before you conduct the interview or administer the MSI-R questionnaire.
QUESTIONS THAT ARE OKAY TO ASK:
1) Age, ethnic background, marital status
2) Level of education and current job
3) Current living arrangements (e.g., lives with roommate; lives with romantic partner, etc.)
4) General information on physical health (e.g., is volunteer in generally good physical
condition? Are there any chronic physical ailments, problems, etc.?).
General information on family of origin:
1) Where was volunteer born and raised?
2) How many siblings does volunteer have?
3) General info about parents: For example:
a. Parents’ marital status (e.g., married, divorced, etc.)
b. What was parents’ relationship generally like? (i.e., How did parents get along?
Were roles in marriage fairly traditional, etc.?). Note that if you get sense that
relationship was troubled or very conflictual, avoid asking about this).
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Cultural Background:
1) How does the volunteer identify themselves ethnically/culturally?
2) Was volunteer born in U.S. or immigrated here? If the latter, you can find out a little bit
about the circumstances of the immigration (e.g., was family separated?), and can ask
questions regarding acculturation (see the Drummond, et al., 2016 text for sample
questions).
3) Are there particular cultural traditions related to relationships, marriage, etc. that are
important to the volunteer and/or emphasized by the volunteer’s family?
Relationship Questions:
1) How did volunteer meet their partner? (Memories of first date; wedding, etc.).
2) General information about course of relationship — e.g., how long together (if married
couple, how long did they go out before deciding to get married?)
3) What is best part of being in this relationship?
4) What do you think it is like being in a relationship with you? (This question can be
interesting to see if the respondent is able to see his/her own positive
characteristics/behaviors and areas for growth objectively)
5) How has relationship changed over time?
6) Do you and your partner have similar beliefs, values, traditions, etc. or are these very
different in some areas? If different, does this cause any problems/conflict and how do
you manage or negotiate around these differences?
7) Have there been any conflicts in the relationship related to cultural differences?
Questions related to specific areas tapped by the MSI-R:
It will be helpful if you have some information from the interview that addresses some of the
same content areas that the MSI-R covers. This will allow you to determine whether the test
scores are consistent with what the volunteer is reporting in the interview and may help to clarify
your interpretation of the MSI-R results. Terms in parentheses refer to specific MSI-R subscales.
1) Some partners express affection to each other very readily and others are more reserved,
what is your partner like? (Affective Expression)
PSY 603: Questions for MSI-R Assessment Interview
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2) When you are having a hard day or going through a difficult time, how will your partner
usually respond? (Affective Expression)
3) When problems come up in the relationship, how are they usually handled? (Problem
Solving Communication)
4) How would you characterize/describe your styles of communication with each other?
(Problem Solving Communication/Affective Expression)
5) How do you and your partner spend time together? (Time Together)
6) Some couples like the same types of activities and have similar interests, other couples
tend to have different interests and activities they prefer. How is it your relationship?
(Time Together)
7) How are finances handled in the relationship? (Disagreement About Finances)
8) Do you and your partner have similar or different ideas on the roles each of you play in
the relationship? (Role Orientation)
9) If couple has children:
A) How do you handle child care responsibilities? (Conflict Over Child Rearing)
B) Do you have similar or different views regarding child rearing, discipline, etc.?
(Conflict Over Child Rearing)
10) How do you get along with your child(ren)? Your partner? (Dissatisfaction With
Children)
11) Do you have any concerns about your child? Does your partner? How have these
concerns affected your relationship? (Dissatisfaction With Children)
12) Is there anything you wish were different in the relationship (be careful with this
question; I wouldn’t ask if you get the sense that there’s a lot of dissatisfaction). (Global
Distress)
THINGS NOT TO ASK ABOUT IN THE INTERVIEW FOR MSI-R
ASSESSMENT ASSIGNMENT
1. Personal or familiar history of psychiatric problems
2. Past psychiatric treatment (e.g., therapy, hospitalizations)
3. Use of alcohol or drugs
PSY 603: Questions for MSI-R Assessment Interview
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4. History of trauma (e.g., physical / sexual abuse, etc.).
5. Sexual history or current sexual relationship with partner (e.g., degree of satisfaction;
frequency of sexual activity; changes in sexual relationship over time;
problems/difficulties in this area). Recall that you should cross off items related to this
area on the MSI-R forms before administering them to the couple.
6. Aggression in relationship (not only physical towards each other, but also things like
throwing/breaking objects during fights; verbally abusive behavior, etc.). Recall that you
should cross off items related to this area on the MSI-R forms before administering them
to the couple.
7. Periods of breakup during the relationship (or times when either member of couple felt
relationship future was in jeopardy).
8. Any other topics that could potentially be very sensitive (e.g., if volunteer states that her
parents underwent a bitter divorce, I would not ask details about this).
Don’t forget to make note of things that will go into the “Behavioral Observations/Mental
Status” section of your report (e.g., appearance, grooming, speech, mood/affect, etc. of your
volunteers). This includes:
General Appearance
Attitude Towards Examiner
Mood (ask a general question like “How are you feeling today?”)
Affect (observe nonverbal behaviors, voice tone, etc.).
Motor behavior (e.g., fidgeting, mannerisms, etc.)
Attitude Towards Examiner
Level of Alertness
Speech (e.g., rate, volume, prosody)
Thoughts Content (notable recurring themes, etc.)
Thought Processes (linear, goal directed; circumstantial; tangential)
(Insight an