ABSTRACT
An incredible amount of research has examined the impact of divorce and parents’ conflict on children. While conflict is a natural and often productive part of families, negative forms of interparental conflict adversely affects children’s relational and mental health (Fabricius & Luecken, 2007). Unfortunately, parents are often unaware of how they communicate during conflict and the effect it has on their children, particularly if their children become enmeshed in it. Children who feel caught between their parents’ conflict tend to avoid talking about their feelings in an effort to minimize the conflict. Partially due to this avoidance, parents continue to communicate in ways that place their children in the middle of their disputes (see Afifi, 2003).
