Explaining Heterogeneity of Daily Conflict Spillover in the Family: The Role of Dyadic Marital Conflict Patterns.

Abstract

In this multi‐informant, longitudinal, daily diary study, we investigated whether long‐term dyadic patterns of marital conflict resolution explain the heterogeneity in short‐term day‐to‐day cross‐lagged associations between marital conflict intensity and mother–adolescent conflict intensity. The sample consisted of 419 adolescents (44.6% girls, M age = 13.02, SD = 0.44, at T1; M age = 17.02, SD = 0.44, at T5), their mothers (N = 419, M age = 44.48, SD = 4.17, at T1), and their fathers (N = 419, M age = 46.76, SD = 4.99, at T1). Mothers and fathers reported on their marital conflict resolution strategies annually across 5 years. Mother–father daily conflict intensity (mother‐reported) and mother–adolescent daily conflict intensity (mother‐ and adolescent‐reported) were assessed for 75 days across 5 years. We hypothesized that long‐term marital conflict resolution patterns would moderate the short‐term daily dynamics of conflict between the marital and the mother–adolescent dyads. Latent Class Growth Analysis revealed four types of families based on long‐term dyadic marital conflict resolution, including families where mostly constructive or mostly destructive conflict resolution was used. Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling was used to investigate the daily levels and short‐term daily dynamics of conflict, revealing that for most families there were no day‐to‐day lagged associations between marital conflict and mother–adolescent conflict. Results showed that long‐term conflict resolution patterns did not moderate the short‐term dynamics of daily conflict. However, differences among long‐term marital conflict resolution patterns were found in the levels of daily conflict, such that in families with long‐term destructive conflict resolution patterns, daily conflict intensity was higher.