Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Recovering from conflict in romantic relationships: a developmental perspective
Jessica E Salvatore1, Sally I-Chun Kuo, Ryan D Steele
1Institute of Child Development, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. salv0041@umn.edu
Abstract:
This study adopted a developmental perspective on recovery from conflict in romantic relationships. Participants were 73 young adults (target participants), studied since birth, and their romantic partners. A novel observational coding scheme was used to evaluate each participant's degree of conflict recovery, operationalized as the extent to which the participant disengaged from conflict during a 4-min "cool-down" task immediately following a 10-min conflict discussion. Conflict recovery was systematically associated with developmental and dyadic processes. Targets who were rated as securely attached more times in infancy recovered from conflict better, as did their romantic partners. Concurrently, having a romantic partner who displayed better recovery predicted more positive relationship emotions and greater relationship satisfaction. Prospectively, target participants' early attachment security and their partners' degree of conflict recovery interacted to predict relationship stability 2 years later, such that having a partner who recovered from conflict better buffered targets with insecure histories.
Related Concept Videos
Ending Relationships
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Couples Therapy
Core Principles and Techniques
Couples therapy often incorporates cognitive-behavioral principles to identify and modify negative...
Jealousy in Romantic Relationships
Relationship Growth
Attachment Styles