ABSTRACT
Parke and Tinsley (1987) commented on the interdependence among the various roles and relationships in the family, with the quality of one dyadic relationship being likely to affect other relationships (see also Stafford, in this volume). Given that the marital relationship is the pivotal relationship in the family, it is particularly likely to have effects on other relationships. In the study reported in this chapter, we were interested in looking at the extent to which conflict patterns used by parents in their interactions with one another were similar to those used in the parent–child relationship and by the offspring in dealing with conflicts among siblings. In other words, if parents deal destructively with their marital conflict, does that increase the chances that they will use destructive patterns in their conflicts with their children? Similarly, if parents use destructive patterns of interaction in dealing with conflicts with their children, does that increase the chances that the children will use destructive patterns in their conflict interactions with one another? We chose to look at conflict patterns because they are an important correlate of the quality of a relationship that can be assessed at the behavioral level (Noller & Fitzpatrick, 1990). In addition, because marital conflict has been shown to be more clearly related to child problems than is marital satisfaction, conflict is likely to have an impact on all relationships in the family (Grych & Fincham, 1990). This study is based on parents’ self-reports of behaviors engaged in during conflict interactions with the spouse and with one of their adolescent offspring, and on similar reports from that adolescent of conflict interactions with each parent and with a sibling.
