Relationship Between Parental Conflict Styles and Social Development of Adolescents in Selected Public Secondary Schools in Kiambu Township, Kenya

The study examined how parental conflict styles influence adolescent social development in public secondary schools in Kiambu Township, Kenya. The target population was 5400 students from five public secondary schools in Kiambu Township. Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected from 373 students through questionnaires and analyzed in SPSS. Regression results showed that validating conflict styles positively enhanced adolescent social development, while hostile styles had harmful effects. Avoiding and volatile styles showed no significant impact. The study concluded that validating approaches are beneficial, hostile ones are detrimental, and the other two have minimal influence. It recommended that family interventions promote validating conflict styles while discouraging hostile or volatile ones.