Mamma e papà litigano ancora! Dinamiche familiari e processi di sviluppo in situazione di conflitto genitoriale.

[Autom. eng. transl.] All families can be crossed by discord and conflicts between parents which, as is well known, do not necessarily produce negative outcomes for their children. Conflict, in fact, represents a normative condition of family functioning, an inalienable element of all interpersonal relationships. And therefore, if parental conflict is to be understood as a presupposition common to all families, what are the family dynamics and development processes that make quarrels between parents "dangerous" for the well-being of their children? The volume addresses these issues by outlining the different theoretical perspectives and the most recent empirical results that explain how, when and why the conflict between parents can become a harmful experience for children. More specifically, the volume accompanies the reader in understanding the relational dynamics involved in the onset of constructive conflicts, characterized by acceptable levels of cooperation, warmth and support, or vice versa, of destructive conflicts characterized by chronic, hostile, and / or characterized by disengagement, withdrawal and emotional coldness. Once the nature of destructive conflicts has been clarified, the volume presents the different mechanisms and processes that explain the effects of destructive conflict on the psychological well-being of children. Among these, both the cognitive and emotional processing processes of the conflictual situation of children directly exposed to conflicts and the different family dynamics that outline the effects of the conflict on parental and co-parenting behaviors, closely associated with atypical development trajectories, are highlighted. of the children. The protagonists of the volume are, therefore, parents and children who are experiencing painful and critical situations that require the implementation of effective interventions aimed at protecting children and helping parents in difficulty. To this end, the last part of the volume outlines some indications of psychological intervention and proposes a series of tools to understand and evaluate situations of parental conflict.