Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

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Yousefi T, Fallah M H, Vaziri S, Afshani A R. Explaining Parent-Adolescent Conflict Consequence from a Parent's Viewpoint: A Qualitative Study. MEJDS 2021; 11 :95-95
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-1933-en.html

Background & Objectives: Adolescence is a stage of life characterized by dramatic biopsychosocial and emotional changes. The parent–child relationship alters during the transition to adolescence. Guiding these changes in adolescence is a major challenge for parents. Parent–Adolescent conflict is an indicator of complications in the relationship between parents and their children. Conflict is a state of stress and anxiety, recognized as a stressful factor that causes negative feelings and emotions. The quality of parent–adolescent interactions during adolescence is often associated with stress and conflicts and leads to behavioral and emotional problems among parents and adolescents. Parent–Adolescent conflict is perceived as a communication problem that can impair family functioning, individual functioning, and even present physical (suicidal) and sexual (extramarital affairs, substance dependence) and biopsychological disabilities. The present study aimed to investigate the outcomes of parent–adolescent conflicts from the parents' viewpoints.
Methods: This qualitative study was part of a research conducted in the form of a grounded theory with an objectivist approach by Strauss and Corbin (1990). A purposive sampling method was used in this research. The study population consisted of 29 parents who conflicted with their adolescent children in Yazd City, Iran, in 2018 and 2019. Initially, the research department of the relevant university approved this research. Then, it was coordinated with the related education department and schools; later, parents who required counseling services were introduced by the schools for sampling. The necessary data were collected by conducting 45–60–minute semi–structured interviews in schools. The interviews were recorded with the consent of the study subjects to carefully review the information. Data analysis was performed after the first interview and resulted in the production of concepts and new questions; consequently, more information was obtained. The interview process continued until data saturation. Theoretical saturation was achieved after interviewing 29 samples. Data analysis was conducted by data coding at 3 levels of open, axial, and selective coding. Code indicates assigning a category and concept closer to a smaller component with the meaning of each piece of data collected. To access the collected data, the examined parents were questioned concerning the consequences of their strategies on themselves and their families when resolving the conflict. This question led to the generation of concepts, new questions, and the acquisition of further data.
Results: Data analysis resulted in 58 concepts, 14 subcategories, and 3 main categories (devastating, preventive, & constructive outcomes). Moreover, the family relationship function was central in this study. Analyzing the statements provided 37 concepts and 8 subcategories included in the main category of devastating outcomes. Concepts were extracted from devastating consequences statements, i.e., understandable to parents. These concepts were categorized as follows: feeling fear and worry; depression; hated feeling; guilt feeling; feeling of inadequacy; envy; irreverence; obsessive rumination; self–injury; other–harm; sleep disorders; eating disorders; exacerbated illness; reduced concentration; reduced motivation and efficacy; waste of time; overcontrol; abandonment; secrecy; searching intermediator; conditioning; a sense of temporary freedom; surrender; avoidance of position; improper sequacity; conflict normalization; disrupting relationships; substance dependence; leaving home; relying on cyberspace; extramarital affairs, divorce, suicide, reduced religious values; disown; break and destruction of home appliances; salary reduction, and implying these concepts were categorized into subcategories, as follows: psychological trauma, physical trauma, dysfunction, exacerbated conflicts, dysfunctional adjustment, social trauma, spiritual trauma, and financial loss. Analyzing parental statements provided the following results: developing adverse psychological traits, social traits, and spiritual dimensions, and saving were other subcategories of this research that appeared in the main category of the constructive outcome, and two subcategories of preventing the escalation of conflicts and injuries prevention were the preventive outcomes of this research.
Conclusion: The present research results revealed that parent–adolescent conflicts outcomes are influenced by the strategies they use to resolve conflicts. Parent–Adolescent conflict can sometimes be beneficial and in some cases harmful. Harmful and beneficial conflicts can be identified from their outcomes. Understanding the outcomes helps parents with effective conflict resolution strategies.