Location, Location, Location: Applying Spatial Statistics to the Relationship Landscape

The desire to understand relationships is a passion shared by professionals in research, clinical, and educational settings. Questionnaires are frequently used in each of these settings for a multitude of purposes-such as screening, assessment, program evaluation, or establishing therapeutic effectiveness. However, clinical issues arise when a couple's answers on questionnaires do not match clinical judgment or lack clinical utility, while statistical problems arise when data from both partners are put into analyses. This article introduces the use of geospatial statistics to analyze couple data plotted on a two-dimensional "relational map." Relationship maps can increase assessment sensitivity, track treatment progress, and remove statistical issues typically associated with couple data. This article briefly introduces core assumptions of spatial models, illustrates the use of spatial models in creating a relational landscape of divorce, offers suggestions for the use of relational maps in a clinical setting, and explores future research ideas.