Communication approaches to parent-child conflict: young adolescence to young adult

As trusted and accessible health care providers, pediatric nurses are asked frequently for advice on the rearing of children and adolescents, particularly during developmental transitions. The parent-adolescent relationship has been characterized as a continuing renegotiation of relational qualities. Aspects of communication, such as conflicts and approaches to them, expose the re-negotiation process. The purpose of this study was to examine how communication approaches and topics of conflict in a parent child relationship evolved over 10 years. Thirty-three families with young adults as children between the ages of 22 and 26 years old responded to a survey about conflict and conflict resolution. Parents and young adults, as respondents, were asked to describe two incidents of conflict. The first incident was a conflict from the past, when the young adult was 11 to 14, and the second incident was a conflict they recently experienced. Inductive analyses were used to substantiate themes from the data. Regarding past topics of conflict, parents and young adults had no difficulty recalling incidents. The approaches to solving the past conflicts were seldom effective. Both parent and teenager were reactive, negative, confrontational, or avoidant. Occasionally, incidents that reflected thinking, planning ahead, and caring were reported. Descriptions of more recent experiences indicated less conflict and more direct and healthy communication approaches; although manipulative, negative, and intimidating tactics were present.