Conflict, Conflict Avoidance, and Conflict Resolution in Emerging Adults

Conflict has deleterious effects on the adjustment of children and adolescents. The literature is less robust on the adverse effects of conflict avoidance on adjustment as well as the beneficial effect of conflict resolution in these age groups as well as in emerging adults. We recruited N = 416 emerging adults from a private midwestern university. They primarily identified as White and female. Participants responded to the Perceived Family Conflict subscale, the Avoidant Conflict Scale, the Family Conflict Resolution Scale, and the Langner Symptom Survey. A MANOVA modeling the four variables demonstrated a significant difference based on sex for the measure of distress and need for treatment. Consequently, separate analyses were performed for males and females and yielded the same pattern for each sex. Specifically, low conflict groups, as well as low conflict avoidance groups, scored significantly lower on a measure of distress than the high conflict and high conflict avoidance group. For conflict resolution, the high groups scored significantly lower on distress than did the low conflict resolution group. The deleterious effect of conflict and conflict avoidance were found in both emerging adult males and females, thereby extending results found in children and adolescents. Similarly, the beneficial effect of high conflict resolution was replicated in emerging adult males and females. Interventions aimed at reducing conflict avoidance and increasing conflict resolution skills should theoretically reduce distress.