An infant’s response to separation is an early indicator of his or her ability to handle conflict in romantic relationships later on, according to a study from the University of Minnesota.

The study, ‘Recovering from Conflict in Romantic Relationships: A Developmental Perspective,’ was done by the UMN’s College of Education and Human Development’s Institute of Child Development. The study will appear in the Psychological Science journal, and it was released online on Jan. 18. Minnesota didn’t announce the study’s findings until Feb. 11.

Jessica Salvatore, a graduate student at UMN and the study’s lead author, said she designed the experiment to better understand couples after a fallout. Many studies have been conducted to gain a better grasp of couples in conflict, but little has been said of the post-conflict aftermath, Salvatore said.

Seventy-three individuals, originally recruited as part of a poverty sample during the third trimester of pregnancy, were assessed at 12 to 18 months old for reactions to separation, Salvatore said. The infants were temporarily separated from their mothers and placed with toys, Salvatore said.

The subjects and their significant others were invited at age 20 or 21 to complete a ‘romantic relationship assessment,’ she said. Couples discussed how they felt toward each other, among other topics that incited disagreement, Salvatore said.

The study found infants who coped best with the stress of separation and engaged with the toys interactively recovered better from conflicts with their romantic partners in their early 20s, she said.

A five-point scale was used to assess the ability to recover from conflict after a cool-down period, Salvatore said. Scores on the high end of the scale indicated ‘substantial contributions to the cool-down,’ and scores on the lower end indicated efforts to sabotage conflict recovery, she said. High scorers spoke positively of their significant others, while low scorers mentioned the previous conflict, Salvatore said.

Trained observers made the ratings, which were based on a statistical measure that assured observers rated similarly under comparable circumstances, Salvatore said.

Salvatore said she recommends individuals confront their partner with problematic issues. It is best to identify conflict and actively seek resolutions to arguments than to suppress disagreements until they ‘boil and explode,’ Salvatore said.

Dyane Watson, a marriage and family therapy instructor at Syracuse University, said she agreed with the study’s findings. In addition to heredity and other biological influences, an individual’s reaction to situations in his or her adult life is determined by childhood interactions, she said.

Based on her observations of couples, Watson said the study accurately portrayed the role of conflict recovery in relationships. Successful conflict recoveries are especially important when parenting children, Watson said.

‘A couple that is able to disagree about finances but then parent effectively together are better off than a couple that let’s those disagreements interfere or influence how they parent together,’ she said.

Watson said the findings are important to the study of healthy relationships as a whole.    

‘As we learn more on how couples can successfully disagree and still protect their relationship, we encourage more positive settings and stability for couples and children,’ she said.

Silas Wallerstein, a sophomore industrial design major, said he could apply the study’s results to his own experience.

‘As an independent child, I feel like I could cope with things easier,’ he said. ‘I don’t remember being in any serious fights with anyone I’ve had a relationship with.’  

dbtruong@syr.edu

 

 

Published on March 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong