ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses 'conflict' that has been ranges from disagreements and conflicts of interest, to conflicts severe enough to produce clinical indicators of child psychopathology. Behavioral family interventions such as Triple P are designed to either prevent a family from moving to a higher level of conflict or produce a movement from the severe side of the continuum to the more moderate and modest level of conflict. The 'continuum' model of conflict and the risk/protective equation have intuitive appeal and face validity. Sanders' research even adds empirical validity to the notion of the continuum. Changing couples is even a greater challenge, and changing family systems is a daunting task. In addition, for individuals and families who have achieved a level of improvement, it is important to provide relapse-prevention interventions that reduce temptations to fall back into old patterns of conflict, and enhance the processes that build confidence in maintaining new attitudes and behaviors.
