Moving Beyond the Dyad: Broadening Our Understanding of Family Conflict

Abstract

The family represents a set of interconnected relationships, characterized by high levels of intimacy and closeness, which also provide opportunities for family conflict. In the literature, there appears to be a shift in understanding of what family conflict is and its subsequent consequences. Previous research focuses on dyadic family conflicts and often views it as a negative experience, resulting in the study of various maladaptive outcomes including internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems. Recently, researchers argue that family conflict should be operationalized to include more than two individuals. Further, evidence suggests that experience in conflict offers children a unique context to hone their social and cognitive skills. This review explores how research on family conflict has evolved. We investigate the status of the field by specifying that family conflict should include instances where more than two members are involved, how theories can be bridged to support this claim, and why it is also necessary to view family conflict as a positive experience. Lastly, we discuss key methodological and analytical issues as well as possible interventions that would help disentangle the inherent complexity of studying family conflict. We emphasize the implications of advancing the field for researchers and frontline professionals.