This study examined young children's affective distress and behavioral responses to parental marital conflict. Forty-eight 4-year-olds and their parents participated in the study. Mothers and fathers independently completed measures of marital conflict, children's reactions to marital conflict, and child behavior problems, while the children completed pictorial measures of reactions to marital conflict and perceived competency. Analysis indicated that children who reported using more maladaptive behavioral responding also reported higher self-esteem. Children who had higher levels of father-reported affective distress also reported higher self-esteem. Children's behavioral responding to marital discord appears to moderate the relation between children's self-reported emotional reactivity to parental conflict and mother-reported child behavior problems. The findings suggest that children's subjective experience of marital conflict appears to play a role in their adjustment and development, beyond the effect of marital conflict alone. (Contains 15 references.) (MDM)