Brief Note Conflict Styles and Outcomes in Families with Adolescent Children Elvira Cicognani and Bruna Zani, Department of Sciences of Education, University of Bologna, Italy Abstract The role of conflict in parent–adolescent relationships is a topic of considerable theoretical debate and empirical investigation; however, limited attention has been devoted to the strategies used by family members to deal with disagreements and their outcomes and how they differ from early to late adolescence. This study explored conflict styles and outcomes in a sample of 302 families with adolescent children (total N = 906), of two age groups (13-year-olds and 15-year-olds). One hundred sixty-four adolescents (45.7%) are female. Participants completed the ‘when we disagree’scales. Results from both adolescents and parents confirmed the intensification of conflict from early to middle adolescence, in terms of conflict style (higher aggression, lower compromise) and outcome (lower intimacy).Age trends differ according to gender; in particular, there is evidence of a more difficult position of older girls, and of the worsening of mother–adolescent relationship from early to middle adolescence. Keywords: family study; adolescents; parents; conflict Introduction Research on family relationships during adolescence has consistently demonstrated the important role of disagreements and conflict in helping family members to renegotiate their roles and relationships, from more hierarchical relationships at the outset of adolescence to more egalitarian relationships by late adolescence (Goossens, 2006; Grotevant & Cooper, 1985; Steinberg, 1990). Although high levels of conflict are deleterious for adolescent development and future adjustment (Laursen & Collins, 1994), researchers now agree that conflict in early adolescence, which typically involves minor everyday issues (e.g., chores, appearance, homework, school perfor- mance, and time to go out or come in) (Allison & Schultz, 2004; Bosma, Jackson, Zijsling, Zani, Cicognani, & Xerri, 1996; Prinz, Foster, Kent, & O’Leary, 1979) is a normative and temporary perturbation that is functional in transforming family rela- tionships. Moreover, moderate conflict with parents has been associated with better adjustment than either no conflict or frequent conflict (Adams & Laursen, 2001) and Correspondence should be addressed to Elvira Cicognani, Department of Sciences of Education, University of Bologna,Via Filippo Re 6, 10126 Bologna, Italy. Email: elvira.cicognani@unibo.it doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9507.2009.00545.x © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2009. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.