RAS Scoring · Relationship Assessment Scale

The RAS (Relationship Assessment Scale) is a 7-item measure of general satisfaction with a romantic relationship, suitable for both dating and married couples ^[1].

Why was the RAS developed?

The Relationship Assessment Scale was developed by Susan Hendrick as a brief, generic measure of how satisfied a person is with their romantic relationship, applicable to many types of close relationships ^[1]. Unlike longer marital-adjustment questionnaires, the RAS was designed to apply across relationship types — dating, cohabiting, and married — and to focus on global satisfaction rather than on specific behaviours or areas of agreement.

Each partner completes the scale independently, and in couples work the two sets of answers are read side by side. Because it is short, the RAS is convenient for repeated administration to track satisfaction over the course of therapy.

What does the RAS measure?

The RAS captures a single underlying dimension of general relationship satisfaction, sampled through seven questions about how well the relationship meets one's needs, how it compares with others, how often problems arise, and how much one loves and is satisfied with the partner. It is a satisfaction measure, not a clinical screener for any condition.

How do you give the RAS?

The RAS takes 1–2 minutes per partner and is self-administered. Have each partner complete it separately so that responses are independent, and interpret divergence between partners rather than averaging across them. Non-clinical staff can hand out the form, but a clinician reads the results in the context of the couple's history and goals.

How do you score and interpret the RAS?

How to score the RAS

Each of the 7 items is rated on a 5-point scale (1 to 5), with higher ratings indicating more satisfaction for most items.

Items 4 and 7 are reverse-scored because they are phrased so that a high rating signals dissatisfaction (for example, how many problems there are in the relationship).

After reversing those two items, the seven scores are averaged to give a mean between 1 and 5; some users sum them instead for a total of 7–35. Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction.

Descriptive score bands

These bands are descriptive, not diagnostic: the RAS measures satisfaction and has no clinical cut-off, and these bands are a reading aid rather than thresholds from the original papers. In practice, a low score, or a meaningful drop across sessions, is more informative than any single threshold and can guide the focus of couples therapy.

Psychometric properties

• Original development. In 57 couples, the RAS had a single factor, alpha reliability of .86, and correlated .80 with the longer Dyadic Adjustment Scale; in a subsample, both scales discriminated couples who stayed together from couples who broke up ^[1].
• Later evaluation. The RAS showed moderate to high correlations with marital satisfaction measures, good test-retest reliability, and consistent measurement properties across ethnically and age-diverse couples and partners seeking marital and family therapy ^[2].

Its single-factor structure makes the averaged score straightforward to interpret and to track over time.

Limitations

• Satisfaction, not a clinical screener. The RAS measures relationship satisfaction and is not a screen for any mental-health condition.
• Single global dimension. It does not break satisfaction down into communication, intimacy, or conflict subdomains; pair it with a fuller assessment when detail is needed.
• Self-report and context. Scores reflect current perception and can shift with recent events, so trends over time are more meaningful than one snapshot.

For individual mood and anxiety that often accompany relationship distress, consider the PHQ-9 and GAD-7.

Billing the RAS (CPT 96127)

When used as a brief standardized measure with scoring and clinical interpretation, RAS administration can be reported under CPT code 96127 (brief emotional/behavioural assessment). Medicare's Medically Unlikely Edit caps 96127 at 4 units per date of service; commercial payer limits vary, so confirm your contract. Confirm payer coverage, as relationship-focused measures are reimbursed less consistently than symptom screeners.