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    Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 29, No. 6, 2000

    Middle and Late Adolescents Conflict Resolution

    Skills with Siblings: Associations with Interparental

    and ParentAdolescent Conflict Resolution

    Marla Reese-Weber1

    Received June 27, 1999; accepted July 24, 2000

    The present study examined whether conflict resolution skills utilized in the inter-parental and parentadolescent relationships were related to adolescents conflictresolution skills with siblings. The associations between interparental, parentadolescent, and sibling conflict resolution skills were compared for middle andlate adolescents. Middle adolescents ( N = 89) and late adolescents ( N = 90)

    reported their perceptions of attack and compromise conflict resolution styles forboth family members within a dyadic relationship. Differences were found betweenmiddle and late adolescents regarding their perceptions of attack and compromiseresolution styles utilized in family dyadic relationships. Path analysis results in-dicated that the influence of interparental conflict resolution on sibling conflictresolution was mediated by momadolescent and dadadolescent resolution forboth middle and late adolescents. Theoretical and empirical implications of these

    findings are discussed here.

    INTRODUCTION

    Effective conflict resolution skills are essential at each developmental stage

    of life for productive and harmonious relationships. Because individuals are likely

    to disagree or have differences of opinion, conflict resolution skills are necessary

    to cope with these differences and remain within a positive relationship (Shantz

    and Hartup, 1992). The sibling relationship has previously been found to provide

    Support for this research was provided by a grant from the Ohio Department of Mental Health.

    1Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Illinois 61790-4620. Re-ceived her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science from The Ohio State University. Majorresearch interest is the development of adolescent conflict resolution skills within the family and

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    698 Reese-Weber

    opportunities for developing conflict resolution skills (Anderson et al., 1994). The

    sibling relationship is also important because the first peer-like relationship that

    most children experience is with a sibling (Katz et al., 1992). Because the sibling

    relationship provides a setting in which to develop and practice conflict resolutionskills that may be used in other relationships, the formation of conflict resolution

    skills with siblings is important.

    The development of conflict resolution skills with siblings is most likely

    influenced by the context in which siblings interactthe family (Hetherington,

    1994). Although numerous studies have examined the association between inter-

    parental, parentadolescent, and sibling conflict (Brody et al., 1987; Brody et al.,

    1992; Patterson, 1982), few studies have examined how conflict resolution skills

    in one dyadic family relationship may be related to conflict resolution skills in

    other family dyads.The development of conflict resolution skills seems particularly important

    during adolescence. The development of cognitive skills during adolescence may

    influence the effectiveness of conflict resolution skills with family members

    (Smetana, 1989). In addition, developmental issues during adolescence, such as

    gaining independence, moving away from home, and possibly attending college,

    may change the influence the family context has on conflict resolution skills in the

    sibling relationship. Hence, associations between interparental, parentadolescent,

    and sibling conflict resolution skills may differ depending on developmental status.

    The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the conflict resolutionskills utilized in the interparental and parentadolescent relationships influence

    sibling conflict resolution skills, and whether the influence is similar for middle

    adolescents and late adolescents.

    Theoretical perspectives have addressed how interparental and parent

    adolescent relationships may be related to sibling behavior. Social learning theory

    suggests that behaviors modeled by others may be imitated in other relationships.

    Specifically, behaviors of higher status individuals are more likely to be imitated

    by individuals of lower status (Bandura, 1989). Within a family, parents might

    be considered to be at a higher status than their adolescents are. For instance,parental conflicts (interparental, parentadolescent conflict) would be more likely

    to influence sibling conflicts than the reverse. In addition to social learning the-

    ory, systems theory (von Bertalanffy, 1968) indicates that family subsystems are

    hierarchically arranged, again suggesting that parents behaviors would influence

    adolescents rather than the reverse.

    In addition to theoretical perspectives, empirical research examining the as-

    sociation between interparental and sibling conflict indicates that a relationship

    exists. Brody et al. (1987) found that qualities of the interparental relationship,

    including conflict, significantly predicted siblings observed prosocial and ago-nistic behavior toward one another. In addition, longitudinal research has indi-

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    Conflict Resolution with Siblings 699

    found that an increase in interparental conflict was related to an increase in sib-

    ling conflict concurrently and 1 year later. These studies seem to indicate that

    interparental conflict is one of the variables that influences conflict in the sibling

    relationship.Other research has not focused on the association between interparental and

    sibling conflict but has examined the relationship between parentadolescent and

    sibling conflict. For example, Pattersons work (Patterson, 1982,1986) has con-

    tributed greatly to understanding the link between parentadolescent and sibling

    conflict. Pattersons coercive family model indicates that interactions in which

    parents fail to stop their child/adolescent from escalating conflict and continue

    to engage with their adolescent may result in increasingly negative exchanges.

    Furthermore, the coercive exchanges between parents and adolescents can lead

    to similar interactions between adolescents and their sibling (Patterson, 1986).Pattersons work can be understood from a social learning perspective. Social

    learning theory suggests that behaviors are modeled (i.e., parentadolescent con-

    flict) and may later be imitated by others (i.e., sibling conflict) (Patterson, 1982). In

    addition to the association between the occurrence of conflict in parentadolescent

    and sibling dyads, a relationship has been found with conflict resolution skills.

    Montemayor and Hanson (1985) found that 15-year-old adolescents reports of

    conflict resolution styles utilized in the parentadolescent dyad were similar to

    those used in the sibling dyad. Taken together, research indicates that behaviors,

    including conflict resolution skills, displayed in the parentadolescent dyad mayalso be displayed in the sibling relationships.

    In sum, both the interparental and the parentadolescent relationships appear

    to influence sibling conflict behavior. However, research focusing on 2 family

    dyadic relationships does not provide information on how interparental and parent

    adolescent dyads interact to influence sibling conflict. More recent research has

    not limited the focus of analysis to 2 family dyadic relationships, but has assessed

    behaviors in 3 dyadic relationships (interparental, parentadolescent, and sibling)

    (Brody et al., 1994; Erel et al., 1998) and 4 dyadic relationships (interparental,

    momadolescent, dadadolescent, and sibling) (Jorgensen, 1985; Reese-Weberand Bartle-Haring, 1998).

    Research assessing 3 or more family dyadic relationships has found that a

    direct relationship does not exist between interparental conflict and siblings behav-

    ior. Brody et al., (1994) examined the relationship between interparental conflict,

    parents differential treatment of their children/adolescents (615 years old), and

    negativity in the sibling relationship. The results indicated that interparental con-

    flict did not have a direct influence on the sibling relationship, but was mediated

    by parents differential treatment of their adolescents. Erel et al. (1998) also found

    that interparental conflict did not have a direct relationship with siblings negativeinteractions, but was mediated by mothers behaviors toward the child (68 years

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    influences the parentadolescent relationship, which in turn influences the sibling

    relationship.

    Previous research with middle adolescents has not examined the existence

    of the mediational model for the specific variable of conflict resolution skills.In addition, most research examining the relationships between family dyads

    has only included samples of early or middle adolescents. As mentioned here,

    changes throughout the period of adolescence, including living independently

    during late adolescence, may influence the association between family dyads.

    Jorgenson (1985) did assess late adolescents perspectives of conflict resolution

    skills in multiple family dyads. The results indicated that resolution skills utilized

    in the interparental dyad were likely to be utilized in the momadolescent, dad

    adolescent, and sibling dyads. However, the model previously found with middle

    adolescents, in which the association between interparental conflict and siblingconflict was mediated by parentadolescent conflict, was not examined.

    Reese-Weber and Bartle-Haring (1998) did examine a mediational model

    for interparental, momadolescent, dadadolescent, sibling, and romantic part-

    ner conflict resolution in a sample of late adolescents. Findings indicated that the

    interparental conflict resolution skills influenced both momadolescent and dad

    adolescent conflict resolution skills, which in turn influenced sibling resolution

    skills. Momadolescent, dadadolescent, and sibling conflict resolution skills were

    found to be related to conflict resolution skills with romantic partners. Although

    not the focus of this study, the results indicate that the relationship between inter-parental and sibling conflict resolution skills is mediated by momadolescent and

    dadadolescent conflict resolution skills. The results are consistent with the medi-

    ational model found in research on conflict, in general, with middle adolescents.

    Hence, research with middle adolescents suggests that a mediational relationship

    exists for the occurrence of conflict, and research with late adolescents indicates

    that a similar mediational model exists for conflict resolution skills.

    Given the theoretical and empirical literature, 2 questions are left unanswered:

    (1) Does the mediational model exist for middle adolescents regarding conflict

    resolution skills? and (2) Are there developmental differences between patterns ofassociation for middle and late adolescents? The present study examines conflict

    resolution skills in the interparental, momadolescent, dadadolescent, and sibling

    relationship for 2 developmental stagesmiddle adolescence and late adolescence.

    The samples were taken from 2 larger studies investigating additional variables

    (e.g., adolescent adjustment, romantic relationships). Participants were selected

    from the larger studies based on sibling structure variables (i.e., age, spacing,

    birth order). As suggested by Cicirelli (1991), sibling relationships were limited to

    1 dyad, rather than multiple sibling dyads. Adolescents were asked to report conflict

    resolution skills with the sibling closest in age to them. In addition, adolescentswere included in the present study only if they had reported conflict resolution skills

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    Conflict Resolution with Siblings 701

    controlled, because of the diversity in families and sibling relationships, numerous

    constraints would have resulted in extremely small samples.

    Because interpersonal conflict, and therefore conflict resolution, does not

    occur to an individual but within a dyadic relationship (Hartup and Laursen, 1991),middle and late adolescents were asked to provide their perceptions of resolution

    skills utilized by both family members within a dyad (e.g., adolescents reported

    the resolution behaviors of both mom and dad for the interparental dyad). Dyadic

    variables were created and analyzed with path analysis procedures. Based on the

    previous research, the main hypothesis was that the relationship between conflict

    resolution skills in the interparental and sibling relationship would be mediated by

    the resolution skills in the momadolescent and dadadolescent dyads. In addition,

    because similar mediational models have been found for both middle and late

    adolescents, differences in the hypothesized mediational model between middleand late adolescents were not expected.

    METHOD

    Sample and Procedures for Middle Adolescents

    Data from the middle adolescent sample was taken from a larger study as-

    sessing adolescents, mothers, fathers, and siblings perspectives of conflict res-olution styles and adolescent adjustment (the present study utilized data only from

    adolescents perspectives of conflict resolution styles). Family requirements for

    participation in the larger study included (a) 2 parents living in the home, (b) a high

    school-aged adolescent, (c) a sibling not more than 4 years younger than the high

    school-aged adolescent, and (d) no family member currently in psychotherapy.

    Adolescents and their families were recruited by 2 methods. First, mailing

    addresses from 2 midwestern high schools were obtained, and 1064 families were

    invited by mail to participate. Eighty-eight families indicated interest in partici-

    pation and were mailed the questionnaires. Second, undergraduate students weregiven extra class credit for the recruitment of families. Undergraduate research

    assistants were given 162 recruitment letters to be given to families meeting the

    requirements. Sixty-four families recruited by undergraduate research assistants

    indicated interest in participation and were mailed the questionnaires. A total of

    152 interested families were mailed the questionnaires. Eighty-nine families re-

    turned the completed questionnaires and were sent the $20 participation fee.

    The 89 middle adolescents (33 males and 54 females) participating in the

    study had a mean age of 16.2 years. Siblings (40 males and 43 females) were on an

    average 2.8 years younger than the adolescents. The majority of middle adolescentswere white (92%), with 95% from intact families. The remaining adolescents were

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    Conflict Resolution with Siblings 703

    scale include Really get mad and start yelling and Say or do something to hurt

    the others feelings. Sample items for the compromise scale include Listen to

    what the other says and try to understand and Try to work out a compromise.

    Using a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (=never) to 5 (=almost always), participantsrate how often a person engages in each behavior. The subscale scores are computed

    by calculating the sum rating for each subscale.

    Rubenstein and Feldman (1993) reported alpha coefficients as .78 for the

    attack and .77 for the compromise scales. Because only simple revisions were

    made to this questionnaire to reflect behaviors of both adults and adolescents (i.e.,

    changing playing video game to read a book and talk with brother or sister

    to talk to friend or spouse), the reliability, as expected, was similar to alpha

    coefficients reported previously. For the attack scale, alpha coefficients for middle

    adolescents perspectives ranged from .77 to .87 and for late adolescents per-spectives ranged from .82 to .89. For the compromise scale, alpha coefficients for

    middle adolescents perspectives ranged from .75 to .84, and for late adolescents

    perspectives ranged from .78 to .88.

    In the present study, adolescents perceptions of their moms, dads, siblings,

    and their own conflict-resolution behaviors within reciprocal dyadic relationships

    were assessed. Five dyadic scores were created by summing reciprocal scores:

    (1) Interparental = mom to dad and dad to mom; (2) Momadolescent = mom

    to adolescent and adolescent to mom; (3) Dadadolescent = dad to adolescent

    and adolescent to dad; and (4) Sibling = sibling to adolescent and adolescent tosibling. In addition, each dyadic score was computed for the attack and compromise

    resolution styles yielding 8 variables.

    RESULTS

    The descriptive statistics for both samples and mean comparisons are pre-

    sented in Table I. Mean differences did exist for the use of attack and compromise

    resolution styles in family dyads. Regarding the dyadic relationships in which

    Table I. Descriptive Statistics and Differences Between Samples for Attack and CompromiseResolution Styles in Each Dyadic Relationship

    Middle adolescents Late adolescentsTest of sample

    Mean SD Mean SD differences (t)

    Interparental attack 21.9 12.0 19.6 10.9 1.34Momadolescent attack 24.6 11.2 16.8 11.1 4.71

    Dadadolescent attack 24.4 11.6 17.2 9.7 4.33

    Sibling attack 33.7 11.0 25.2 11.5 4.78

    Interparental compromise 25.3 6.6 23.2 7.2 1.99

    Momadolescent compromise 23.8 7.0 26.2 6.9 2.27

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    Table II. Correlation Coefficients for Attack and Compromise Resolution Styles

    Interparental Momadolescent Dadadolescent Sibling

    AttackInterparental 1.0 .64 .64 .28

    Momadolescent .54 1.0 .53 .36

    Dadadolescent .64 .33 1.0 .32

    Sibling .46 .55 .57 1.0

    CompromiseInterparental 1.0 .57 .48 .34

    Momadolescent .38 1.0 .49 .49

    Dadadolescent .60 .34 1.0 .43

    Sibling .33 .45 .38 1.0

    Note. Correlation coefficients for the middle adolescent sample are presented above the diagonal and

    correlation coefficients for the late adolescent sample are presented below the diagonal.p < .01.

    adolescents participate (i.e., momadolescent, dadadolescent, and sibling dyads),

    attack resolution was more common in the middle adolescent sample, and com-

    promising was more common in the late adolescent sample. Middle adolescents

    reported more compromise resolution during interparental conflict than late ado-

    lescents did. Regarding attack resolution, no differences were found between

    the middle adolescents and the late adolescents perspectives of interparental

    conflict.

    Correlations

    The correlations between the attack and compromise resolution style within

    dyadic relationships are presented in Table II. Attack resolution style in one family

    dyadic relationship was positively correlated with attack resolution in other dyadic

    relationships. Likewise, compromise in one dyadic relationship was related to

    compromise resolution in other family dyads. These correlations suggest that if aresolution style is utilized in one dyadic relationship, than the same resolution style

    is likely to be reported as utilized in other dyadic relationships within the family.

    Path Analyses

    The hypothesized path models were estimated using the computer program

    LISREL VIII. The resolution styles for each dyadic relationship were used as

    observed variables in structural equation modeling procedures. LISREL VIII pro-

    vides maximum likelihood estimates for the models, chi-square statistics, rootmean square residuals, and a Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI). Because the chi-square

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    Conflict Resolution with Siblings 705

    fit (Marsh and Hocevar, 1988). If there is no significant loss of fit, the mediational

    model is accepted. LISREL VIII provides R2 for each equation and t-values to

    determine the significance of paths.

    Finally, using structural equation modeling allows the disturbance terms tocorrelate. In the present study, the disturbance terms for momadolescent and

    dadadolescent conflict resolution were freed to correlate to account for the possi-

    bility that more than just interparental conflict resolution may predict both mom

    adolescent and dadadolescent resolution. The disturbance terms may also include

    error variance that is not random but due to 1 individual completing the same mea-

    sure multiple times, which would also result in the correlation of disturbance terms.

    The attack and compromise models accounted for the correlation matrices of

    both the middle adolescent and the late adolescent samples. In these models, the

    parameters are constrained to be equal across samples. First, the path coefficientsare estimated for the middle adolescent sample. Next, the path coefficients for the

    late adolescent sample are set to be equal to the estimated path coefficients for

    middle adolescents. If the model fit is poor, path coefficients are considered to be

    substantially different between samples. If the model fit is good, path coefficients

    are not considered to be substantially different.

    Figure 1 presents the maximum likelihood results of the attack model. The

    chi-square was 20.0 with 11 degrees of freedom (p = .05); the root mean square

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    Fig. 2. Maximum likelihood path analysis results of the compromise resolution model.

    residual was .04; the GFI was .98; and the chi-square to degrees of freedom ratio

    was 1.82. The fit indices indicate that the attack model works well to explain

    the data from both middle and late adolescents. The t-values indicated that all

    paths were significant. The R2 for momadolescent attack was .42 and .31 for

    dadadolescent attack. The R2 for sibling attack was .33. Finally, the disturbance

    terms for momadolescent attack and dadadolescent attack were not significantly

    correlated.Figure 2 presents the maximum likelihood results of the compromise model.

    The chi-square was 8.91 with 11 degrees of freedom (p = .63); the root mean

    square residual was .02; the GFI was 1.0; and the chi-square to degrees of free-

    dom ratio was .81. These indicate excellent fit for the compromise model in both

    samples. The t-values indicated that all paths were significant. The R2 for mom

    adolescent compromise was .31 and for dadadolescent compromise was .17, in-

    dicating that less variance is accounted for in the compromise model as compared

    with the attack model. The R2 for sibling compromise was .28. Finally, the distur-

    bance terms for momadolescent compromise and dadadolescent compromisewere correlated. This correlation indicates that both momadolescent compro-

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    Conflict Resolution with Siblings 707

    DISCUSSION

    The present study examined 2 important questions: (1) Do momadolescent

    and dadadolescent conflict resolution skills mediate the relationship between in-terparental and sibling conflict resolution skills for middle adolescents as found

    previously with late adolescents (Reese-Weber and Bartle-Haring, 1998)? (2) Is

    the mediational model found in previous studies on adolescents family relation-

    ships consistent across middle and late adolescents? Regarding the 1st question,

    the findings indicated that the mediational model examined for both attack and

    compromise resolution does exist for middle adolescents. In addition, the media-

    tional role of parentadolescent conflict resolution was found for both middle and

    late adolescents.

    The direct relationships found between family dyads may be due to a com-mon family member being involved in both dyadic relationships. For instance,

    adolescents who use compromise during conflicts with their parents may also use

    compromise with their siblings. Research supports individuals having a consistent

    style of resolution across relationships. Sternberg and Dobson (1987) assessed late

    adolescents conflict resolution skills with a variety of individuals such as parents,

    teachers, roommates, and romantic partners. The results indicated that individu-

    als had a strong consistency across dyadic relationships for a particular conflict

    resolution style. Hence, the direct relationships found in the present study may be

    partially explained by individual family members style of conflict resolution.Because both family members conflict resolution styles were included in

    the dyadic variables, an individual family members style of conflict resolution

    does not completely explain the direct relationships found in the present study.

    Social learning theory would suggest that individuals may imitate the conflict

    behaviors of other family members with higher status leading to consistencies

    between individuals (Bandura, 1989). Parents who model an attack style of conflict

    resolution during interparental and parentadolescent disputes may be imitated by

    adolescents and siblings during parentadolescent and sibling conflicts. Similar

    to social learning theory, systems theory posits that what occurs in one familysubsystem is likely to occur in other family subsystems (von Bertalanffy, 1968).

    In addition, family subsystems are thought to be hierarchically arranged in which

    parents have more influence than adolescents and their siblings. Hence, parent

    adolescent conflict resolution is more likely to influence the sibling relationship,

    because the parents are directly involved in parentadolescent disputes but not in

    sibling conflicts. In sum, both theoretical perspectives help explain why behaviors

    displayed in dyads involving parents would influence behaviors in the sibling

    relationship.

    The other major focus of the present study was comparing middle and lateadolescents. The mediational model found suggests that sibling conflict resolution

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    not only influential during middle adolescence but also continue to be important

    during late adolescence (Buhrmester, 1996). However, sample differences in the

    current study limit the generalization of the findings. Future research is needed

    to assess the development of sibling conflict resolution skills with longitudinaldesigns.

    One difference found between middle and late adolescents in the present study

    was the particular conflict resolution style utilized. The results indicated that middle

    adolescents reported higher levels of attack resolution, whereas late adolescents

    reported higher levels of compromise, for those dyads in which the adolescent is

    an active participant (parentadolescent and sibling conflict). The social relational

    model may be helpful in explaining the difference in resolution styles for middle

    and late adolescents (Laursen and Collins, 1994). The social relational model

    suggests that open settings in which participants are free to leave may involvemore constructive conflict behaviors. In contrast, participants in closed settings

    who are stuck with one another are less likely to become anxious about the

    interaction ending and may allow themselves to become more negative during

    conflicts (Laursen and Collins, 1994). Because late adolescents do not typically

    live at home with parents, family members may attempt to use compromise to

    keep the peace to ensure that the family members will remain together and

    not return to their own living residence. In contrast, middle adolescents typically

    reside with their parents and younger siblings, and family members are less likely to

    leave the home for extended periods of time (or even permanently). Hence, middleadolescents and their parents and siblings may believe that the closed setting in

    which they live allows them to be less positive and use more destructive conflict

    resolution skills (i.e., attack) without fear of the family member leaving.

    In addition to the social relational model, late adolescents and their family

    members may use more constructive conflict resolution skills because they have

    been in relationships with one another longer. The length of the relationship may

    have provided more opportunities for family members to practice conflict resolu-

    tion skills and determine which strategies are most effective. More research in this

    area is needed to explore whether this hypothesis is valid. Longitudinal designs as-sessing early adolescents and following their conflict resolution styles with family

    members into late adolescents would provide evidence of developmental change,

    whereas the present study allows only speculation.

    Another difference found between middle and late adolescents perspectives

    was the resolution styles used during interparental conflicts. Although middle and

    late adolescents reported similar use of the attack resolution style, middle adoles-

    cents perceived their parents as using more compromise behaviors than did late

    adolescents. Middle adolescents may perceive more compromise because they

    are less individuated and still idealize parents in some ways. Late adolescentsare developmentally more individuated and may not idealize parents relation-

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    Conflict Resolution with Siblings 709

    1990). In addition, romantic relationships become increasingly important during

    adolescence and may influence how adolescents perceive their parents marital re-

    lationship. For example, Furman and Buhrmester (1992) found that conflict with

    romantic partner increased over adolescence and during late adolescence becamemore frequent than arguments with family members. Hence, late adolescents may

    begin to appreciate the difficulty in resolving conflicts with romantic partners and

    view their parents marital relationship differently.

    Because the late adolescent sample was all college students, comparisons

    with a more general sample of middle adolescents may be problematic. However,

    middle adolescents were from relatively middle-class homes indicating that this

    group may not have represented the general population of middle adolescents and

    may have more closely matched the late adolescent college sample. Even given the

    middle-class nature of middle adolescents, any comparisons of the middle and lateadolescents included in the present study should be made with caution. Future stud-

    ies examining more generalized samples of both middle and late adolescents are

    needed to more accurately compare developmental differences. In addition, lon-

    gitudinal studies would provide more clear information about the developmental

    differences that may occur in the associations between family dyadic relationships

    in middle and late adolescence.

    One strength of the present study was theassessment of multiple family dyadic

    relationships. Previous research has typically assessed only 2 family dyadic rela-

    tionships (e.g., Brody et al., 1987, 1992; Patterson, 1982; Montemayor and Hanson,1985). In the present study, middle and late adolescents provided their perspec-

    tives on each family members conflict resolution skills within multiple dyads. Al-

    though assessing multiple family dyadic relationships provides more information

    about conflict resolution within the family system, assessment of 1 individuals

    perspective has limitations. First, because the adolescent completed the instru-

    ment several times, common methods variance may have influenced the results.

    A portion of the variance in computed scores may have been due to the idiosyn-

    cratic way that an adolescent responds to the instrument (Sabatelli and Bartle,

    1995). In addition, moms, dads, and siblings may not perceive conflict resolu-tion in the family the same as adolescents do. Future research assessing multiple

    family dyads should include each family members perspective to alleviate these

    limitations.

    In addition to assessing multiple family members perspectives, research in

    the area of sibling conflict resolution should be expanded to include more diverse

    families. In the present study, middle and late adolescent families were primarily

    white, intact families. Sibling conflict resolution skills in families from other ethnic

    backgrounds may be influenced by extended family dyads (i.e., grandparents).

    In addition, sibling conflict in single-parent families would most likely be moresubstantially influenced by either the momadolescent or dadadolescent dyadic

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    The present study contributes significantly to clinical, theoretical, and em-

    pirical issues regarding conflict resolution skills. Treatment programs will benefit

    from information on how conflict in family dyads influences one another. Preven-

    tion and intervention programs focusing on sibling conflict resolution may includeinformation and assistance regarding effective interparental and parentadolescent

    resolution skills. In addition, the results of the present study provide support for

    the social learning, systemic, and social relational perspectives. The present study

    also provides information essential for continued theory development in the areas

    of interpersonal conflict and sibling relationships. Finally, future research replicat-

    ing and expanding the current study will provide additional information regarding

    how conflict resolution behaviors are acquired.

    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

    The author would like to thank Raymond Montemayor, Gary Creasey, and

    Patricia Jarvis for their editorial comments and Matthew Hesson-McInnis for his

    statistical consultation.

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