Conflict Coping Research Articles

Coparenting and Adolescent Academic Engagement: The Mediating Role of Parent–Child Communication Among a National Sample of Chinese Families

ABSTRACTThe relationship and related mediating mechanism between parental coparenting and adolescent academic engagement have yet to be elucidated during the pandemic. The present study is set to investigate the relationship between parental coparenting and adolescent academic engagement within Chinese families. Then it examines the mediating effects of parent–child communications in relationships. As a part of the national online survey in China, fathers, mothers and adolescents from 700 families across the country participated in the online survey. Both parents reported their coparenting support and conflict, while adolescents rated the level of open and problematic parent–child communication and their own academic engagement. Paternal coparenting conflict was related to adolescent academic engagement through both open and problematic communications. Paternal and maternal coparenting support was related to adolescent academic engagement through the mediating effect of open communication. Maternal coparenting conflict was related to adolescent academic engagement through problematic communication. Moreover, paternal coparenting support was positively directly related to adolescent academic engagement in the overall model. The research findings supported the effects of parental coparenting on adolescent academic engagement through the mediating effects of open and problematic parent–child communication. Paternal coparenting support had a greater impact on adolescent academic engagement.

COVID-19 and Child Adjustment: The role of Coparenting Conflict and Child Temperament

COVID-19 and Child Adjustment: The role of Coparenting Conflict and Child Temperament

Work and family conflicts, depressive symptoms and coparenting conflict behaviours: An interdependent approach

AbstractThis study aims to investigate the relationships between work and family conflicts, specifically work‐to‐family and family‐to‐work conflicts, parental depressive symptoms and coparenting conflict behaviours during the COVID‐19 pandemic. This national survey study involved the participation of 830 families in mainland China, including fathers, mothers and adolescents. Fathers and mothers provided self‐reports on their experiences of work‐to‐family conflicts, family‐to‐work conflicts and depressive symptoms. Meanwhile, adolescents reported their perceptions of coparenting conflict behaviours exhibited by both fathers and mothers. The Actor‐Partner Interdependence Mediation Model was employed to analyse these relationships. In the Actor‐Partner Interdependence Mediation Model, paternal family‐to‐work conflicts were found to be positively associated with both paternal and maternal coparenting conflict behaviours, mediated through paternal depressive symptoms. Similarly, maternal family‐to‐work conflicts were positively linked to both paternal and maternal coparenting conflict behaviours, mediated through maternal depressive symptoms. Additionally, paternal family‐to‐work conflicts exhibited a direct positive relationship with both paternal and maternal coparenting conflict behaviours. However, paternal work‐to‐family conflicts demonstrated a direct negative association with paternal coparenting conflict behaviours. This study sheds light on the complex interconnectedness between work and family conflicts, parental depressive symptoms and coparenting conflict behaviours during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The findings highlight the importance of addressing work and family conflicts in understanding and managing coparenting dynamics, particularly during challenging times such as a pandemic. Such insights can inform interventions and support systems to promote healthier coparenting relationships and family well‐being.

Mother-father and parent-grandmother coparenting conflict and caregiver involvement in adolescent parent families

Family systems theory recognizes the complex interconnected subsystems within families, yet little is known about how multigenerational coparenting affects coparenting and caregiving outcomes within adolescent parent families. The current study estimated auto-regressive cross-lag models to evaluate the interrelation between mother-father and parent-grandparent coparenting subsystems and caregiver involvement using reports of coparenting conflict and caregiver involvement from 280 adolescent parents ( Mage = 17.02, SD = 1.42; 83.6% Latine; 69.6% women) at two time-points, collected nine-months apart. Results showed stability in coparenting conflict and caregiver involvement among mother-father and parent-grandparent dyads and one intergenerational cross-lag effect. Grandmother involvement at time 1 (T1) was negatively linked to parent-grandparent coparenting conflict at time 2 (T2). Gender differences also emerged, such that (1) father’s report of mother involvement at T1 was positively associated with mother-father coparenting conflict at T2; (2) father’s report of mother involvement at T1 was negatively associated with father’s report of grandmother involvement at T2; and (3) father’s report of parent-grandparent coparenting conflict at T1 was negatively associated with father’s report of mother involvement at T2. Findings underscore connections between intergenerational coparenting subsystems and suggest gender differences in sensitivity, malleability, and the influence of the coparenting dyad on coparenting conflict and caregiver involvement. Further research on adolescent coparenting and caregiving dynamics across coparenting subsystems is needed to strengthen interventions aimed at serving young mothers and fathers.

The effect of normative conflict on meat consumption behavior: A mixed-method study

Reducing meat consumption in sustainable diets is considered a key action in addressing the climate crisis. However, eating meat is part of most diets in Western societies and the prevailing social norm and emerging trends and collective changes lead to normative conflicts. This study examines the impact of conflicting social norms on meat consumer behavior through an exploratory empirical research with a mixed-method design. Qualitative data was collected through in-depth interviews with 13 consumers with sundry dietary profiles (vegetarians, reducers, and full meat-eaters), and a one-factor experimental design survey (N = 278) was conducted with two conditions among participants. The findings indicate that interventions based on conflicting social norms of different groups reduce meat consumption (H1, accepted) and can help reduce meat consumption among groups with higher consumption levels (full meat eaters). When approached on a conscious level, the denial-based conflict coping strategy will lead them down the path of the prevailing social norm, ultimately reducing their environmental impact. Different psychological strategies to deal with normative conflict were identified between groups of reducers and full meat eaters, as well as different effects on the behavior of experimental manipulation. These groups should be approached differently on issues related to meat consumption. Further research is needed to explore moral licensing and potential negative spillover effects among meat reducers.

University Students Adult Attachment and Love Conflict Coping Strategies: Study on the Relationship with Love Satisfaction

With the development of The Times, the change in university students love situation is an important entry point in the study of an intimate relationships. In this study, a questionnaire survey of 320 University students and 5 University students showed that the overall level of love satisfaction was high, but the avoidance and anxiety of adult attachment were generally high. Love conflict coping strategies have a significant impact on the love satisfaction of university students and have a certain intermediary role in the relationship between adult attachment and love satisfaction of university students. Therefore, constructive communication is one of the effective ways to improve University students love satisfaction, which is conducive to the healthy development of University students love psychology.

Moderating Effect of Self-Esteem on the Relationship between Depression and Family Conflict Coping Strategies in the Elderly with Chronic Diseases in Korea.

(1) Background: The elderly with chronic diseases often experience high levels of depression, which can negatively affect their family conflict coping strategies. Additionally, as the level of depression increases, self-esteem tends to decrease. This study aims to investigate whether self-esteem plays a moderating role in the relationship between depression and family conflict coping strategies among the elderly with chronic diseases. (2) Method: The subjects were 2501 older adults with chronic diseases included in the 16th Korean Welfare Panel Study. The CES-D scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the tool of Family Conflict Coping Strategies were used. (3) Results: Depression was negatively correlated with self-esteem and coping strategies for family conflict, while self-esteem was positively correlated with coping strategies for family conflict. In the multiple regression model, self-esteem had a moderating effect (F = 43.20, p < 0.001). This result indicated that as self-esteem increases, the negative influence of depression on family conflict coping strategies becomes weaker (β = -0.08, t = -3.04, p = 0.002). (4) Conclusions: When addressing family conflict coping strategies in the elderly with chronic diseases, it is crucial to focus on enhancing self-esteem. Additionally, it may be beneficial to classify the elderly into groups based on their level of self-esteem.

Development and Verification of a Mother-child Group Counseling Program Integrating Positive Psychotherapy and Emotional Coaching: Focusing on School Maladjusted Children

This study developed a mother-child group counseling program that integrates positive psychotherapy and emotional coaching and verified its effectiveness. Nine pairs participated in the experimental group and 10 pairs in the comparative group. Repeated measurement variance analysis was performed to verify program effectiveness. The program effect of children was significantly higher in self-esteem and interpersonal skills after participating in the program than that of children in the comparative group, and this effect was maintained until further tests. As for the effect of the mother program, the audit tendency and conflict coping ability of mothers in the experimental group significantly increased after participating in the program. In the case of communication skills, there was no significant difference between the experimental group and the comparative group. These results show that this program not only induced positive changes to school maladjusted children, but also was effective in causing positive changes in their mothers.

Trajectories of Parental Daily Stress: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study during the COVID-19 Lockdown.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a source of significant stress due to health and safety concerns and measures to control the virus' spread, such as mobility restrictions. This measure was especially demanding for parents with school aged children, who had to find new work-family balance as their children participate in online education while attempting to work remotely. To evaluate parents' stress trajectories during the pandemic, we conducted Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs) during lockdown for 29 days in 68 families in Santiago, Chile. In addition, we evaluated the role of educational level and income, co-parenting, and number of children in parents' stress trajectories. Our results showed that during the first weeks of lockdown expected protective factors (i.e., income and co-parental support) were not able to influence parents' daily stress management. Moreover, parents with higher educational levels reported worse stress adaptation than less educated parents. On the other hand, co-parental conflict was significantly associated with parent's stress. Our study captured an acute response to COVID-19 related challenges. This study contributes to understanding how parents adjust to stress during adverse circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unspoken teacher conflict: uncovering female novice teachers' conflict experiences in professional learning community

PurposeThe professional development of novice teachers is receiving increased attention. Although conflict is regarded as an essential factor affecting the effectiveness of the school professional learning community, it is often hidden unspokenly. This study uncovers the conflict experiences of female novice teachers in an Asian cultural context and investigates how such experiences influence their professional development and emotions.Design/methodology/approachThe case study approach was adopted. Four participants were selected according to specific criteria, and two rounds of semi-structured interviews were conducted in five years to identify the conflicting parties, conflict types, coping strategies and resulting impact.FindingsLongitudinal qualitative data have revealed that female novice English language teaching (ELT) teachers mainly reported conflicts with their female colleagues. Goal, task and relationship conflict are the most common types of conflict encountered, while the strategies of avoiding, dominating and obliging are the most popular. This study also discusses the impacts of such conflict experiences.Originality/valueThis study identifies the influence of culture, particularly a culture of high power distance and an emphasis on “precious harmony”, on novice female teachers' conflict coping and offers insights into how conflict can be utilised to enhance novice teachers' professional development in the school professional learning community.

Coaching impact on work-family conflict and occupational stress among educational administrators in primary schools.

Many workers in developing countries have complained about poor working conditions, unhappiness, and job insecurity. As a result, irrationality in employees judgments of the dissatisfactory status of Nigerian organizational environments has been linked to deviant public employee behavior. Apparently, workers in this work environment experience job-induced hazards and distorted feelings about their occupational well-being. With that in mind, we evaluated the impact of rational-emotive occupational health coaching on work-life quality and occupational stress management among educational administrators in Nigeria. This research employed a group-randomized trial design. A total number of 70 administrators were recruited, measured with 2 measurement tools during the study. Frequency, percentage, and Chi-square statistics were employed to describe the recruited sample, and inferential (mixed model ANOVA) statistics were utilized to examine the information gathered from the participants. The result showed a significant effect of the rational-emotive occupational health coaching (REOHC) group in decreasing the perception of stress and work-family conflict management among educational administrators. Also, the study reported a significant effect of time on administrators' occupational stress and work-family conflict management. The results also indicate that administrators' occupational stress and work-family conflict coping skills had a significant influence due to group and time interaction effects. REOHC is a powerful and useful coaching strategy that improves perceptions of administrators about work-life and job stress in work environment. Based on these results, we recommend REOHC for practitioners in different works of life.

All the Roles of School Bullying and Empathy in an Experimental Intervention Approach

The writing presents an experiential intervention approach, focusing on all the roles of school bullying, and empathy”. In an incident of school bullying, the attitude of all those present towards the protagonists determines the development and outcome of the incident. Cognitive and emotional empathy is the mediating factor in bullying and victimization behaviors. Through the experiential approach, it is sought to educate the public, students, pupils, teachers, and parents to understand with empathy all the roles of those present in school bullying and to actively transform their attitude. The method applied is Forum Theater and Storytelling techniques, role play and frozen image and Transformation of History in Forum Theater. Dramatized scenes and frozen images facilitate the Recognition, Understanding, Labeling, Expression, and Resilience (RULER) of thoughts, and feelings, through these develops empathy and resilience. The facilitator prompts the participants to talk in a supportive and complementary way to the victimized student and the bully. It is expected the development of psychosocial skills and conflict coping strategies.

Fathers and mothers’ parenting stress and adolescent depressive symptoms: the mediating roles of overt and covert coparenting conflict behaviors

BackgroundIt is yet to be clarified if and how parenting stress was linked to adolescent depressive symptoms during the pandemic.ObjectivesThis study adopted an interdependent approach to examine the relationship between parenting stress and adolescent depressive symptoms in Chinese families. It then examined the mediating effects of overt and covert coparenting conflict behaviors.MethodsAs a national survey, data were obtained from different regions in China. Fathers, mothers, and adolescents from 1031 families participated in this study. The fathers and mothers reported parenting stress; the adolescents rated their fathers and mothers’ overt and covert coparenting conflict behaviors and their own depressive symptoms.ResultsMaternal parenting stress was related to adolescent depressive symptoms through the mediating effects of paternal overt and maternal covert coparenting conflict behaviors. Both paternal and maternal parenting stress were directly related to adolescent depressive symptoms. However, maternal parenting stress had a more substantial effect on adolescent depressive symptoms than paternal parenting stress.ConclusionsThe findings support the effects of parenting stress on adolescent depressive symptoms. The study also highlights the mediating roles of paternal overt and maternal covert coparenting conflict behaviors in relationships.

Interparental and Intergenerational Co-parenting Conflict and Adolescent Academic Performance: The Mediating Roles of Adolescent Academic Engagement and Depression.

While a link between co-parenting conflict and academic performance is frequently assumed, studies on this association have shown inconsistent results. In addition, academic engagement and depression can potentially mediate the association between co-parenting conflict and academic performance. However, studies have not tested this proposition. This paper examined the direct effect of co-parenting conflict on adolescent academic performance and the mediating effect of academic engagement and depression. Using data from a nationally representative survey, the 2020 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we constructed a sample of 1989 dyads of adolescents (aged 10 to 15) and their primary caregivers in China. The structural equation model analysis revealed that co-parenting conflict was not directly linked with academic performance but was indirectly associated with adolescent academic performance through academic engagement and depression. The findings provide empirical support that academic engagement and depression play important mediating roles in the relationship between co-parenting conflict and adolescent academic performance. Future intervention programs aimed at promoting adolescent academic performance may consider a family-oriented approach to identify adolescents from families with co-parenting conflict and provide them with professional support.

The Case for Multidimensional Co-Parenting Behaviors as Sources of Chronic Stress: Understanding Pathways to Mental Health Symptomology Among Divorced and Separating Adults.

The co-parenting relationship matters for postdivorce parental adjustment. This study explores the relative impact of different forms of co-parenting behaviors, coupled with an individual's psychological resources, in explaining parent mental health in recently divorced or separated parents (n = 355). A latent variable structural equation model was fit to examine pathways between dimensions of co-parenting (support, overt conflict, self-controlled covert conflict, and externally controlled covert conflict), various psychological resources (satisfaction with the divorce decree, perceived competence of the co-parent, and self-efficacy), and adverse mental health symptomology. Significant direct pathways were identified between overt co-parenting conflict and adverse mental health. Indicators of co-parenting quality were tied differentially to various resources. Indirect effects were found for both self-controlled covert conflict and overt conflict on adverse mental health symptomology through self-efficacy. Leverage points and considerations for health professionals and practitioners working with divorcing parents are discussed.

Relations between childhood emotional insecurity, self‐esteem, and adulthood marital conflict in South Korea

AbstractObjectiveThis study examined the reciprocal relationship between childhood emotional insecurity, later adult self‐esteem, and marital conflict in South Korean couples.BackgroundCurrent literature on intergenerational transmission of marital relationships lacks a dyadic perspective for understanding how spouses influence the relationship between childhood emotional insecurity and adulthood marital conflict.MethodThe actor–partner interdependence model was employed to test spillover and crossover effects using data from 210 South Korean couples with children age 3–5 years.ResultsChildhood emotional insecurity was associated with marital conflict in both women and men. Additionally, this relationship was mediated by lower levels of self‐esteem. However, the mediating effect was stronger for women than for men. Furthermore, women experiencing emotional insecurity during childhood positively affected their spouses' destructive marital conflict coping strategies through lower self‐esteem, whereas men's childhood emotional insecurity did not affect their spouses' destructive marital conflict through self‐esteem.ConclusionThis study provides strong evidence to explain the mechanism of intergenerational transmission in marital conflicts.ImplicationsFuture research on intergenerational transmission of marital relationships should consider the influence of the family of origin and the interactions between couples by considering the family as an interdependent dynamic system.

Promoting Positive Relationship Between Parents and Grandparents: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Group Triple P Plus Compassion in Vietnam

In Vietnamese culture, grandparents are significantly involved in the upbringing of grandchildren. This involvement of grandparents entails lots of ambiguities and challenges. Boundaries between parents and grandparents are often unclear, and communication can be restricted due to power differentials, leading to inconsistent discipline. This study seeks to evaluate the efficacy of the Group Triple P–Positive Parenting Program plus Building Coparenting Alliance—a compassion-focused module to promote the parent-grandparents relationship. One hundred Vietnamese parents whose parents or parent in-laws provided care for their children were randomly assigned to either an intervention condition (n = 50) or a waitlist control condition (n = 50). Both groups were assessed at three time-points (pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up). The short-term intervention effects were found across domains, including co-parenting conflict, parents' self-compassion, dysfunctional parenting, parenting self-efficacy, parental adjustment, child behavioral problems and child prosocial behaviors. Intervention effects on co-parenting conflict, parenting behaviors, and the child's prosocial behaviors were maintained at a 6-month follow-up. This study demonstrates the efficacy of Triple P plus compassion in promoting co-parenting relationships between parents and grandparents, enhancing parenting practice and child outcomes in Vietnamese families.

Developing a Valid and Reliable Cross-cultural Measure of Coparenting Conflict between Divorced Parents: The Portuguese Version of the Acrimony Scale.

Coparenting conflict is predictive of parents’ and children’s adjustment to divorce. An accurate assessment of postdivorce acrimonious coparenting relationships is critical for research, clinical, forensic, and public policy purposes. The Acrimony Scale (AS) is a measure commonly used to assess coparenting conflict. We translated and cross-culturally adapted the AS to the Portuguese context, testing its reliability and validity. Using a web-based survey, data were collected from a community and convenience sample of 196 unrelated divorced parents, assessing sociodemographic characteristics, coparenting conflict, and divorce adjustment. The study consisted of two phases: (1) forward-backward translation and cultural adaptation and (2) psychometric properties analyses: construct and criterion-related validity and internal consistency reliability. The 25-item AS was successfully translated and cross-culturally adapted to the Portuguese language. Principal component analyses (PCA) suggested a three-factor structure solution of 22-items, explaining 57.5% of the variance. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed the goodness of fit of this tridimensional model. The results also demonstrated acceptable convergent and good discriminant validity and high internal reliability. Scores on the AS suggested good known-groups validity and high discriminative power with 86.7% classification accuracy. The area under the ROC curve was 0.91, establishing a very good predictive value of the scale. We suggest that the AS is a reliable multidimensional measure to assess coparenting conflict after divorce and may be useful, namely, in the psychological assessment of child custody and evaluation of the effectiveness of coparenting conflict-based interventions. We discussed future research and practical implications.

Parents’ and older siblings’ socialization of younger siblings’ empathy: a sample case in China

In 2016, China officially ended its One-Child policy and started allowing urban married couples to have up to two children. Beginning in 2021, Chinese policy officially began encouraging couples to have up to three children in response to low birth rates and increasing needs for workers and care providers in an aging country. Siblinghood in China has thus begun to re-emerge as a social phenomenon among urban Chinese. Given the important role sibling relationships have in the development of empathy, this relaxation and policy shift provides a unique context in which to investigate family dynamics among two-child families where there is a large age gap between children. Guided by family systems theory, the current study examined family level factors that help socialize younger sibling’s empathy in mainland China by testing direct associations between autonomy supportive parenting, marital quality, coparenting, and secondborn children’ (ages 3–5) empathy in mainland China. Direct and indirect associations with secondborn children’s empathy via older sibling’s relationship quality with their younger sibling were also tested. Results revealed coparent conflict and positive sibling relationship were directly associated with younger sibling’s empathy; further, marital quality and coparent support were indirectly associated with younger sibling’s empathy via positive sibling relationship. Parents, educators, and practitioners may consider addressing family level factors as an avenue for promoting younger sibling’s empathy development.

Coparenting matters: The mediating effect of implicit theories of intelligence and depression on the relation between coparental conflict and STEM self-efficacy among Chinese adolescents

Coparenting matters: The mediating effect of implicit theories of intelligence and depression on the relation between coparental conflict and STEM self-efficacy among Chinese adolescents