Parental Hope Communication and Parent-Adolescent Constructive Conflict Management: A Multilevel Longitudinal Analysis

Drawing from relational conflict management research and hope theory, the present study hypothesized that parental hope communication is positively related to constructive parent-adolescent conflict management. Utilizing three waves of longitudinal survey data from 393 Latina/o 6th-8th grade students, we tested the hypotheses using a randomintercept cross-lagged panel model, which partitions variance at the between-person and within-person levels over time. At the between-person level, we found that, relative to the sample averages, as Latina/o students reported higher levels of parental hope communication, they tended to report higher levels of constructive conflict over the academic year. At the within-person level, parental hope communication at one time point positively predicted constructive parent-adolescent conflict at the next time point. Our findings inform hope theory, family communication, and positive communication research by demonstrating the potential utility of parental hope communication for increasing constructive conflict in parent-adolescent relationships.