University students’ observations of interparental conflict: A descriptive qualitative study

Abstract

Interparental conflict is a common aspect of family life and plays a significant role in shaping family climate. This study aims to explore the reasons behind interparental conflict based on the observations of university students. A descriptive qualitative research design was followed in the study. The participants consisted of 35 undergraduate students, and data were collected via written responses to an open-ended question asking students to describe the main conflicts they observed between their parents. The data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. As a result of the analysis, six main themes reflecting students’ observations of interparental conflict were reached: economic issues, power and control, relational difficulties, parenting, family-of-origin–related conflicts, and daily life-related conflicts. Among the main themes, economic issues were represented by the subthemes of financial strain and financial management, and relational difficulties by communication problems and emotional conflicts. Overall, the findings suggest that university students perceive parental conflict not as isolated disagreements but as a multidimensional and continuous relational phenomenon, with many factors playing active roles.