Campus Location
Abilene Campus (Residential)
Date of Award
5-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Communication
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
J. D. Wallace
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Dorothy Andreas
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Jonathan Camp
Abstract
This study examines the relationship of parental conflict styles, family type, stress levels, and parent-child closeness on adult children’s conflict communication. Using Rahim’s conflict management framework and family communication patterns (FCP) theory, this research examined how family dynamics shape conflict behaviors of adult children, specifically within two parent and divorced/separated families. The survey gathered approximately 315 family experiences covering six family types. Separated/divorced and two-parent family types had sufficient numbers to further analyze the differences between these two types.
The findings indicated a significant positive relationship between parental and adult children’s conflict styles, as well as notable differences in conflict style based on family type, particularly in cooperative styles. Additionally, a strong positive correlation was found between parent-child closeness and cooperative conflict styles of adult children, while stress levels were negatively correlated with collaborative and compromising conflict styles. The practical implications of these findings extend to both academic communication research as well as real-world applications for families. This study emphasizes the potential for positive change when families and professionals are aware of pattern transmission.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Boyd, Abby, "A Family Matter: An Analysis of Adult Children’s Conflict Communication" (2025). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 898.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/898