Click below to find more ideas about managing conflict in these important relationships:

Managing conflict in marriage - Learn more about predictors of divorce and ways you can manage conflict in this most important relationship.

Sibling rivalry - Relationships between and among siblings can be the most rewarding and the most troubling, depending upon how well we manage the conflicts that inevitable occur. Below are some good sources to consult:

• The Nemours Foundation has some recommendations for parents at Kids Health, http://www.nemours.org/internet
• Virginia Molgaard offers advice on this topic at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1529I.pdf, Iowa State University.

Domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness in the U.S. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44. There are common communiation patterns that we see that contribute to and keep people in violent relationships.

• National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, http://www.ncadv.org/.

Relational aggression - Are males more aggressive than females? Let's explore this issue further:

• A team from the Department of Biology at University of Akron found that male rat aggression results from reduced levels of serotonin in the brain. The researchers suggest that aggressiveness in human males is also the result of reduced levels of seratonin in the brain and is not a learned behaviour. Learn more at http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/print/print_394779.htm
• Learn about the Ophelia Project's goal to assist girls in managing aggressive behaviors, http://www.opheliaproject.org/

Talking to your kids

How to build a brick wall between you and your child: Say something nasty like, "Why can't you be more like your older sister?" This is like laying down brick #1. When your child responds with a defensive reaction, brick #2 has been laid. .Keep up this pattern and you'll have built a brick wall between you.

• Talking With Kids About Tough Issues is a national campaign by
  Children Now and the Kaiser Family Foundation, http://www.talkingwithkids.org/sex.html

Waning friendships

There are "friends of the road" and "friends of the heart." Friends of the road are those we enjoy while they are near and we are sharing activities or interests. For instance, you may be friends with other parents in your child's playgroup. When that play group is disbanded, this friendship is likely to wane.

Friends of the heart are those with whom we invest a great deal of time and energy. We disclose and build trust. We make time for these relationships and celebrate the friendship with tokens of affection (e.g., exchanging presents, calling one another regularly, spending vacations together).

• Check out Cyber Parent's tips on friendship at http://www.cyberparent.com/friendship/