ABSTRACT
Conflict is an inevitable part of family life. Whenever there are differences in interests, beliefs, values, or desires among family members, or whenever there is a scarcity of such resources as money, time, or space, conflict can occur. The assumption in much of the literature on the effects of marital conflict on children's behavior is that conflict is a destructive process that may lead to divorce, and, eventually, cause problems in children. Studies of divorce and conflicted marriages have demonstrated that high levels of discord are related to high levels of child disturbance. Aggression, social withdrawal, depression, lowered self-esteem, somatic symptoms, and noncompliance to adult authority are problems characteristic of children who are in families marked by interparental discord (Hess & Camara, 1979; Hetherington, Cox, & Cox, 1982; Wallerstein & Kelly, 1980). Research has suggested that it is the interparental conflict, and not the separation or divorce of parents, that may be the major cause of behavior problems generally associated with children of divorce (Emery, 1982; Rutter, 1971).
