negative outcomes, such as marital disaffection or role dissatisfaction. In contrast, many

of the previously conducted studies of conflict during the transition to parenthood found

conflict-avoidance to be deleterious (Crohan, 1996; Fox, 2001; Heinicke & Guthrie,

1996; Kluwer et al., 1997; Paley et al., 2005). However, Gottman (1994) noted the

conflict-avoiding couple type may be better understood as conflict-minimizing; these

couples' approaches to conflict may be different from the type of avoidance assessed in

previous research, which may be more similar to the destructive behavior Gottman called

"stonewalling." Conflict avoidance might also be more harmful to the relationships of the

volatile and validating types. Also in the present study, the conflict-avoiding and volatile

couple conflict type scores were not significantly associated with positive outcomes.

Other research has indicated conflict engagement (even seemingly negative engagement)

is associated with more positive marital satisfaction than conflict avoidance (Heinicke &

Guthrie, 1996; Paley et al., 2005). However, these studies primarily assessed conflict

engagement patterns before the birth of the couples' child; it may be volatile couples'

satisfaction decreases across the transition to parenthood as the demands of caring for the

baby results in less time and energy for affection and successful repair attempts after

conflicts.

 Limitations of the Study

 Issues involving the sample used for this study and the types of data collected

contribute to inherent methodological limitations. Convenience sampling was used to

invite couples to participate in this study, necessarily calling into question the

representativeness of the sample and the generalizability of the results. However, given

the resources of the researcher, random sampling of new parents was not possible. While

official records have been kept private for some time, this information is now particularly