Abstract
The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to compare whether children from polygamous family structures significantly differ from children from monogamous family structures with regard to the frequency of parent-child conflict, and (2) whether children from these two structures employ different patterns of family conflict resolution.To address these questions, a random sample of 212 high school students (60.8% monogamous) completed a self-administered survey. The results of MANOVA show no significant differences (p > 0.05) between these two structures with regard to the frequency of parent-child conflict. The results also show similar conflict management styles between these two family structures within each of the following five domains (privacy, school and career, money spending, going out and leisure, and physical appearance).This study is unique in that it is the first empirical research to be conducted in the field of conflict resolution among youth and adolescents in polygamous marital structures and therefore, further investigation is needed to replicate these results utilizing different cross-cultural populations practicing polygamy.
Highlights
The unfavorable effects of polygamous marital structures on the well being of children have been established by a wide range of sources[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
To test whether these groups differed on each of the continuous conflict parameters, a MANOVA was conducted for each conflict parameter across the five domains
We expected that the high potential for parental conflict in polygamous families and the exposure of children to this marital stress would increase the likelihood of parent-child conflict and affect the way the children would respond to conflict
Summary
The unfavorable effects of polygamous marital structures on the well being of children have been established by a wide range of sources[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Other challenges for polygamous families include the financial burden of supporting a larger family and the relative psychological absence of the father[16] These stressors lead to distress, disagreement, and marital tension, which challenge the parents’ ability to care for their children. When a family breaks down in this way, the children bear the greatest burden and often become the target of their parents’ frustrations[22,23] Support for this proposition is provided by the “spillover” hypothesis[24,25], which holds that the distress, hostility, and preoccupation that arises from marital difficulties is transferred into parenting behavior, resulting in dysfunctional parenting and impaired outcomes for the children. Spousal tension can disrupt parenting[26] and cause mothers to withdraw and become hostile toward their children, and the children themselves may be pressured to take sides in the conflict between the parents[17]
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