New book examines long-term effects of conflict between parents on children

New book examines long-term effects of conflict between parents on children. A new book co-authored by University of Sussex Professor Gordon Harold provides crucial new evidence on how conflict between parents affects children's psychological development. The book, Parental conflict: Outcomes and interventions for children and families ¹ is aimed at all professionals working with children and families where inter-parental conflict is a common feature of family life. Drawing on state-of-the-art science and evidence-based practices developed nationally and internationally over the past decade, Parental Conflict provides a road-map to understanding how the complexities of modern family life transfer effects to children, and what can be done to improve individual, economic, health, and educational outcomes. The book represents a unique partnership linking the implementation of scientific research to family focused practice-policy contexts. Professor Harold and co-authors Jenny Reynolds, Catherine Houlston and Lester Coleman from the charity OnePlusOne address why some children are more negatively affected by inter-parental conflict than others, what can be done to improve psychological outcomes in the short and long-term, and how early identification and management of negative behaviour patterns in families can prevent escalations and alleviate psychological distress and later psychological damage to children. Professor Harold says: "Today's children are tomorrow's parents.