This study investigated how transfer from marital conflict affects parents' ability to regulate their children's negative affect displays and how these parent responses impact their children's academic and social adjustment. In addition, the study examined whether parents' gender is associated with parents' reactions to their children's negative affect and their children's adaptation. Parents were videotaped interacting with their preschool-age children alone in one instance; in another instance they were videotaped interacting with their children and spouses simultaneously. In their interactions with children alone, parent reactions to children's displays of negative emotion were categorized using a behavior coding system. In interactions with children and spouses simultaneously, parental interactions were rated on a number of emotional dimensions. Findings suggested linkage between the quality of marital relations and parents' ability to regulate children's emotions during interaction. While unhappily married parents have difficulty with their children's negative affect displays, mothers' and fathers' reactions were characterized by particular patterns: mothers' responses were characterized by a compensatory pattern (soothe and praise), whereas fathers' responses were characterized by more negativity (escalates, commands, takes items away). These findings differ from previous research which suggests that fathering is more sensitive than mothering to transfer from marital distress. Instead, these results suggest that mothering and fathering show different vulnerabilities. (EV)