Introduction
Family conflict is often the main reason for entry into couple or family therapy and is typically a key target for intervention. Conflict in couples and families can center on different issues, such as child behavior, substance use or mental health, partner work/life stress, finances, division of household responsibilities, intimacy and sexual relationships, or infidelity. However, the specific topic of conflict is commonly understood to be less significant than the nature of the families’ conflictual pattern around different topic areas.
Family conflict at high levels has deleterious effects on all family members. For example, family conflict has been consistently linked with individual mental health difficulties including depression, substance abuse, anxiety, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and antisocial behavior (Whisman and Uebelacker 2009). Long-term marital and family conflict is also negatively related to individuals’ physical health such that persistent conflict...
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Fleming, C.E., Morrill, M.I. (2019). Family Conflict in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_445
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