Examining children's physiological functioning is an important direction for understanding the links between interparental conflict and child adjustment. Utilizing growth mixture modeling, the present study examined children's cortisol reactivity patterns in response to a marital dispute. Analyses revealed three different patterns of cortisol…

Building on empirical documentation of children's involvement in interparental conflicts as a weak predictor of psychopathology, we tested the hypothesis that involvement in conflict more consistently serves as a moderator of associations between children's emotional reactivity to interparental conflict and their psychological problems. In Study…

Relatively little research has examined the relations between growing up in a community with a history of protracted violent political conflict and subsequent generations' well-being. The current article examines relations between mothers' self-report of the impact that the historical political violence in Northern Ireland (known as the Troubles)…

This multimethod study examined the association between family instability and children's internal representations of security in the family system within the context of maternal communications about disruptive family events. Participants included 224 kindergarten children (100 boys and 124 girls) and their parents. Parents reported on the…

Preschoolers' normative patterns, individual styles, and developmental changes in coping with anger between others (background anger) were examined. Pairs of children were observed playing while two adults in an adjacent room verbally expressed anger toward each other. Children were also interviewed concerning the feelings they had during the…

Influence of others' emotions on the emotions and aggression of 2-year-olds was examined. Dyads of familiar peers were exposed during play to a sequence of experimental manipulations of background emotions of warmth and anger. Theoretical and practical implications of sensitivity to others' conflicts and interpersonal problems in toddlers are also…

Examined responses of 63 children of 4-9 years to different forms of expression of anger. Angry interactions between adults elicited anger and distress in young children and were discriminated from more positive interactions. Children responded negatively to unresolved expressions of anger. (RJC)

Children from 5 to 19 years of age viewed videotaped segments of resolved, partially resolved, and unresolved conflicts. The negativity of children's responses corresponded to the degree that fights were unresolved. Numerous age and sex effects were found. (BC)

This study compared boys' and girls' coping responses to videotaped representations of marital conflict that varied in conflict content, tactic, and the gender of the parent engaging in conflict behaviour. Participants were 398 children (208 boys, 190 girls) aged 12-13 years old living in the United Kingdom. Child-related conflict exchanges…

This exploratory study examined children's sense of control as a cognitive and perceptual context for responding to the expression of interadult anger. Children's cardiovascular, electrodermal, and self-reported emotional responses to the angry interaction of adults were measured. Perceptions of control were manipulated in two ways: by giving…

Three studies that examined children's processes of coping with expressions of anger between adults are discussed. Study 1 investigated children's responses to anger involving the mother as a function of marital history and history of interparent hostility. Study 2 investigated individual styles of coping with anger. Multi-dimensional aspects of…