As anyone who finds themselves in the thick of family life can tell you, there is no formula or equation that can explain it. E may well equal MC-squared, but that’s no help when you find yourself arguing with the kids over chores. And yet perhaps science can help after all.

Family conflict has long been the business of the Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution (SCCR), whose mission these past ten years has been to act as a national centre for best practice in family mediation and early intervention work, with the aim of bringing down the numbers of young people presenting as homeless in Scotland.

How do they go about it? Through sharing the science of conflict.

Next time you find yourself in a heated debate with your offspring, you’d be forgiven for wondering what exactly the ‘science’ of it is.

We all need support sometimes, and if you're involved in a family conflict, SCCR can provide that 'scaffolding' if you need to reach out to someone close to you.

And yet science can provide a common ground on which families can meet.

To give an example – a common source of irritation for parents and carers centres on sleep, namely, young people’s habit of staying up and sleeping in late. Some parents and carers might even cite this as evidence of laziness.

The science says something different, though.

Young people tend to stay up and sleep in late because of a brain chemical called melatonin. Melatonin is sometimes known as ‘the sleep drug’ as it is involved in helping people of all ages to sleep. The brains of young people, however, secrete melatonin later in the day than children and adults, hence why they bed down after everyone else.

Knowing that what appears to be bad behaviour is the consequence of the changes the teenage brain and body go through in adolescence often starts the process of taking the heat out of family arguments.

SCCR is taking its advice for reducing family conflict to Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh on Saturday 9 November when it holds The BIG Family Event, an event that is free and for families of all shapes and sizes.

The BIG Family Event is subtitled ‘Being Well, Doing Well’ because it hopes to help families find ways to positively transform conflict in the home through strengthening relationships. Families taking part will leave the event better able to manage conflict, anger and emotions.

Now if that all sounds a bit serious, rest assured there will be fun to be had.

Cyrenians’ Cook School will be on hand to share how food and mealtimes can bring families together, while there’s also a family yoga session and a ‘Conversation Café’.

SCCR will also run a workshop exploring the teenage brain and coping strategies for when family times get tough.

And there will be stalls manned by SCCR and representatives of organisations who run family services.

The BIG Family Event will also provide everyone taking part with a free lunch, plus there will be refreshments available all day. SCCR saw this as a vital part of what they were offering. As someone who runs one of the Community Hubs who do such vital work in our capital put it, ‘A lot of our parents can get to events, but then worry about the cost of lunches.’

Everyone that takes part in The BIG Family Event will also gain free entrance to Dynamic Earth after SCCR’s event ends. Families can reserve a place by visiting SCCR’s website.

Family life can be tough, we know, but help is available with a twist of science. Come to The Big Family Event and pick up some tips on how to be a domestic Einstein!

The BIG Family Event: Using Science to End Family Conflict