1. Parental relationship and children  

	Many parents, whether living together or separated, are having to cope with conflict in their relationships.
	Parental conflict influences how parents parent, and how children expect their parents to behave towards them.
	The quality of children's lives is heavily influenced by their parents' relationship - children recognise this more than parents.
	7 out of 10 teenagers say that parents getting on well is "one of the most important factors in raising happy children" - yet only a third of parents thought so. (Source: NFPI survey (2000) of 11 - 16 year old pupils: 2,343 pupils from 115 schools took part).
	Children respond to parental conflict in different ways: even siblings in the same family may react differently.

2. Understanding parental conflict

	Conflict is a normal and necessary part of life and learning to live with others.
	Irritations, disappointments and anger are an everyday part of living in relationships, but some of us find this harder to accept than others.
	Personality, upbringing and past experience shape our attitude to and tolerance of conflict.
	Current stresses also affect the way we relate to others, particularly our partners.
	The impact of relationship distress may be detrimental to parents' well-being.

3. Parental interaction      

	The quality of the relationship matters most - more than the skills to communicate and resolve conflict alone.
	It is the loss of positive emotional interactions rather than the emergence of negativity that is linked with loss of satisfaction in the relationship.
	Support, affection, humour, warmth and interest in each other increase relationship satisfaction and help to offset the negative fallout from conflict.

4. Lessening the impact on children 

	When children feel loved and are shown affection, most will cope and thrive.
	Other family members or friends can give support and increase the children's understanding of what is going on.
	Children can benefit and learn from seeing conflict well handled.
	How conflict is resolved is the key: children need to be aware of when and how this has happened.
	Parental conflict may be especially harmful to children if they believe they are to blame.