CRI
Couple Relationship Inventory
This exploratory questionnaire describes the main areas of difficulty in a couple: communication, conflict, affection, sexuality, trust, the division of tasks and decisions, and shared plans. Completed separately by each partner, it brings out the sources of distress and disagreement to address in couples therapy or individual therapy.
- Number of questions
- 28 questions
- Estimated duration
- 7 minutes
- Language
- English
- Original name
- Couple Relationship Inventory
- Target audience
- Adults
- Category
- Couple issues
- Exploratory questionnaire
- Exploratory questionnaire
Preview of the 28 questions
Scoring & interpretation
Scoring
| Affection and closeness | 12 / 16 |
Emotional distance, a lack of affectionate gestures, shared moments, and connection.
Areas to explore: the moments the partners share, thoughtful gestures, what has changed since the start of the relationship.
| Trust and jealousy | 11 / 16 |
Doubts about the other's faithfulness or honesty, jealousy, a need to check up.
Areas to explore: where the mistrust comes from (past infidelity, personal history), checking, controlling behaviors on either side.
| Plans and commitment | 9 / 16 |
Doubts about the couple's future, diverging plans, wanting to separate.
Areas to explore: each partner's plans (children, where to live, work), the level of commitment, ambivalence about staying together.
| Sexuality | 8 / 16 |
Dissatisfaction or difficulties in the couple's sexual and intimate life.
Areas to explore: desire discrepancy, any sexual difficulties, whether the partners can talk about it, a referral to a sex therapist if needed.
| Communication and listening | 7 / 16 |
Difficulty talking and listening to each other, and bringing up important topics.
Areas to explore: the topics avoided, how each partner expresses their needs, the time spent talking to each other.
| Conflict and escalation | 7 / 16 |
Arguments that escalate: criticism, contempt, defensiveness, or stonewalling.
Areas to explore: how a typical argument unfolds, the words that hurt, how arguments end and how the partners repair afterward.
| Sharing tasks and decisions | 6 / 16 |
A sense of unfairness in how tasks, mental load, money, or decisions are divided.
Areas to explore: who does what day to day, mental load, important decisions (money, children, housing).
No validated clinical or psychometric cutoffs have been established for this test yet. The results should therefore be considered exploratory indicators, meant to support the clinical interview, not diagnostic findings.
Scoring
Each statement is scored from 0 (never) to 4 (very often) based on its frequency over the past few months. Each domain combines 4 statements spread throughout the questionnaire, giving a score from 0 to 16.
Reading the profile
There is no total score. Domains are ranked from most to least elevated, each with a description of what it covers and points to explore in the interview. The profile maps the couple's areas of difficulty as this person experiences them. When both partners have completed it, the gap between their two profiles is often as telling as the most elevated domains.
Clinical cautions
The questionnaire does not assess intimate partner violence. Intense conflict, fear, or controlling behavior by one partner should prompt screening for it in an individual interview.
Limitations
This exploratory questionnaire has not undergone psychometric validation and has no cutoffs. It supports the clinical interview and does not provide a diagnosis.
What psychologists think
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