Conflicts are inevitable in most family situations. They can happen between siblings, couples, and between children and their parents. Conflicts arise when differences occur in what individuals wish to realize how they want to pursue goals, individual requirements, and the expectations the involved individuals have for one another. Conflicts may not always be negative, and they become a problem when there is a lack of adequate and effective resolution. Some families can effectively handle conflicts while others are not able to. Families that are not able to effectively resolve conflicts may experience negative emotions such as frustration and in chronic situations, affect the proper functioning of the family. This can cause a crisis or lead to violence in the family. Psychologists have a major role to play in helping families resolve and manage conflicts. Being a demanding responsibility, it is essential for psychologists to identify effective strategies to help affected families manage conflicts. Several strategies have been proposed by researchers, and one of them is training/teaching families on conflict resolution skills. This systematic review aims to establish if teaching families conflict resolution skills is effective. Therefore, the question used to guide the search process is, “Is teaching conflict resolution skills to families effective in managing family conflicts?”
Search Protocol and Systematic Review Process
The search strategy involved identifying the keywords that were used in the search process first. The keywords/terms identified and used were conflict resolution skills, the effectiveness of conflict resolution skills, and conflict resolution strategies. The keywords were used to create multiple search strings according to the desired results. The search strings aimed to produce results that would provide comparable information. The databases searched were APA, Psycnet, and CINAHL Plus with full text, Google Scholar, and EBSCO, and Elsevier. Approximately twenty-three articles related to the search question were generated. These articles were filtered based on study aims and their results. The inclusion criteria for systematic review were based on how articles demonstrated appropriate methodology use and thorough description as well as how they comprehensively addressed the research question. For studies to be included in this literature review, they had to be published in a peer-reviewed journal and no current (no more than ten years old). Seven articles met the inclusion criteria, and only five were selected for this review.
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Literature Review
Conflict resolution strategies across families tend to differ despite the fact that conflicts are common in families. Effective conflict resolution is linked to improved relationship satisfaction and the well-being of families. According to Siffert & Schwarz (2011), failure to resolve conflict results in increased marital distress. In addition, a lack of conflict resolution in marriage can lead to mental health problems. Since marital conflict is associated with essential aspects of a couple’s and family’s ability to function well, it is important to understand how these conflicts arise and effective ways to solve them. Multiple studies propose that teaching conflict management styles during therapy sessions for couples with conflict management problems is an effective conflict resolution strategy in families. Lebow et al. (2012) state that conflict is essential when helping couples during therapy as it is, in most cases, the issue that causes them to seek therapy. Relationships experiencing unresolved conflicts are linked to different issues such as anxiety, reduced work function, and poor physical health, among other issues. Therefore, couples with many unresolved conflicts are most likely to end up separating or in divorce.
In their study, Wagner et al. (2019) assessed the predictive power of intentions and different conflict resolutions strategies on the quality of marital life. The study was conducted in a sample of 750 male and 750 female participants. The results of the study indicated that marital quality was linked to ways through which couples resolve their conflicts. The application of constructive conflict resolution styles was associated with marital quality. According to Wagner et al. (2019), their findings indicate the need for professionals to focus on the kind of marital conflicts presented by couples and the styles applied in resolving them. Similar findings were observed by Kulik et al. (2016) in their study on variations in conflict resolution methods among spouses in their late adulthood. Seventy-six couples participated in the study. An actor-partner interdependent model was applied in examining the effects of styles implemented by each spouse and their partners on marital life quality (Kulik et al., 2016). The study’s results indicated that most spouses applied integration hence effective conflict resolution. Dominance and avoidance as conflict resolution strategies were less applied.
Delatorre et al. (2019) conducted a study to identify different conflict resolution styles and evaluate the quality of marital life related to each of the identified profiles. The study included seven hundred and fifty heterosexual couples. Data on conflict resolution styles, marital quality, and sociodemographic characteristics were collected. In order to assess how conflict resolution profiles and the other variables in the study, a variance and association analysis was conducted (Delatorre et al., 2019). According to the researchers, conflict resolution styles can either be constructive or deconstructive/destructive. This depends on the outcomes of their execution. In constructive strategies, spouses are open to conversation, and they accept their partner’s perspectives. In addition, they are committed to solving the issue at hand. In contrast, destructive styles are violent, competitive, and involve avoidance. Based on the findings of Delatorre et al. (2019), constructive conflict resolution styles are associated with improved relationship quality.
Destructive methods are linked to reduced relationship quality. The more couples use constructive styles in solving conflicts, and reduced avoidance and dominance, the more marital satisfaction. Resolving conflicts among spouses is a mediator between attachment and the quality of marital life. In particular, constructive conflict resolution styles, even when combined with an attachment that is not secure, is linked to better marital relationships. Conversely, the use of destructive styles in conflict resolution can lead to marital violence. Destructive strategies are also linked to an increased possibility of divorce. The negative impact of avoidance can be reduced if the style is applied to protect a relationship or in cases where spouses are, in most cases, affectionate towards one another. However, in situations where avoidance is related to less proximity in couples, dissatisfaction in marriage increases (Delatorre et al., 2019). Therefore, avoidance as a deconstructive conflict resolution strategy aimed at covering negative emotions or withdrawal from a conflict can be understood in different ways and have different outcomes for a relationship.
In conclusion, conflict in families is an inevitable issue. Different couples apply different strategies in conflict resolution. Based on the findings of the reviewed studies, it is evident that how couples use conflict resolution styles determine the quality of their marital lives. Constructive conflict resolution styles are associated with improved relationships between couples and reduced conflict. This means that teaching families, in particular couples, conflict resolution skills and styles during therapy, can help improve their marital quality. Teaching them how to apply constructive conflict resolution strategies can encourage openness between spouses, improve communication, and ultimately result in less conflicts and better relationships. Teaching conflict resolution skills and how to effectively apply them is, therefore, an effective conflict resolution intervention that can be used by counselors to help families deal with conflict.
References
Delatorre, M. Z., & Wagner, A. (2019). How do couples disagree? An analysis of conflict resolution profiles and the quality of romantic relationships. Revista Colombiana de Psicología , 28 (2), 91-108. https://doi.org/10.15446/rcp.v28n2.72265
Kulik, L., Walfisch, S., & Liberman, G. (2016). Spousal conflict resolution strategies and marital relations in late adulthood. Personal Relationships , 23 (3), 456-474. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12137
Lebow, J. L., Chambers, A. L., Christensen, A., & Johnson, S. M. (2012). Research on the treatment of couple distress. Journal of Marital and Family therapy, 38 (1), 145-168
Siffert, A., & Schwarz, B. (2011). Spouses’ demand and withdrawal during marital conflict in relation to their subjective well-being. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 28 (2), 262-277.
Wagner, A., Mosmann, C. P., Scheeren, P., & Levandowski, D. C. (2019). Conflict, conflict resolution and marital quality. Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto) , 29 . https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-4327e2919
