Disagreements and arguments are prevalent in all families. But what do families fight about the most and has it changed over time? To find out, US researchers surveyed 593 parents with at least one child between the ages 4 and 17. For couples, communication was the most contentious issue, followed by mood and tempers, parenting, household chores and money management.
“Think about how much relationships in our world have changed in the last 50 years, with massive cultural and technological shifts. Interestingly, despite all these changes, couples still seem to argue about the same things. This suggests there are some fundamental aspects for what it takes to make a romantic relationship last,” said the co-author of the study.
Parents and teenagers argued the most about household chores and untidy rooms, followed by technology and phone use. Bedtime delays, obeying instructions and picky eating were the top conflict areas between parents and young kids. When looking at the socio-demographic differences in conflict severity, researchers found that the topics of disagreement were similar across different types of families, age, education, household income and other characteristics.
“This information about common sources of strife can help couples and families better anticipate and prepare for conflict, and it highlights to families dealing with these issues that they are not alone in what they are going through.”
The findings were published in the Journal of Family Issues.