Background: This paper examined children's fearful, sad, and angry reactivity to interparental conflict as mediators of associations between their exposure to interparental aggression and physiological functioning. Methods: Participants included 200 toddlers and their mothers. Assessments of interparental aggression and children's emotional…

This study examined how children's insecure internal representations of interparental and parent-child relationships served as explanatory mechanisms in multiple pathways linking interparental conflict and parent emotional unavailability with the emotional and classroom engagement difficulties the children had in their adjustment to school. With…

Sixty-four young children were induced to feel angry, sad, happy, or "just okay" before their exposure to interadult anger. Findings indicated that negative emotions increased children's distress and negative appraisals and expectations in reaction to interadult anger, whereas positive emotions reduced distress reactions and increased children's…

Examined the responses of 24 children (7- to 9-year olds) and 24 adolescents (13- to 15-year olds) to analogs of marital conflict scenarios varying in initial conflict themes and the emotionality of endings. Found that explicit verbal resolution of conflict issues was not necessary for reducing children's emotional insecurity; changes in the…

Consistent with the bidirectional perspective on parent-child relations, the current study examined children's perceptions of agency in the context of marital conflict. A storytelling task was completed by 11 5 five-year-old children, tapping perceived agency. These children and their mothers and fathers completed measures of marital conflict at…

This study examined how children's emotions affect their responses to adult conflict. A total of 64 children aged 4 through 8 heard a simulated interadult conflict in the next room after they were induced to feel angry, sad, happy, or "just O.K." Assessments of children's affect, cognitions, and behaviors consistently revealed that…

Two studies assessed school-aged children's reactivity to parental conflict simulations and adolescents' reactions to actual marital conflict. Three profiles of reactions were identified: secure children, insecure-preoccupied children, and insecure- dismissing children. Findings in both studies indicated that preoccupied children evidenced the…

Examined whether links between marital relations and six- to nine-year olds' adjustment were mediated by children's emotional security. Latent variable path analysis results supported theoretical pathway whereby marital dysfunction was linked with adjustment problems as mediated by emotional insecurity regarding parental conflicts. Emotional…

This multi-method study sought to identify parameters of developmental change and stability of child reaction patterns to interparental conflict in the context of family relations in a sample of 223 6-year-old children and their parents followed over the course of one year. Consistent with the sensitization hypothesis, interparental withdrawal and…

This multimethod, prospective study examined the nature of pathways between interparental hostility and withdrawal, parental emotional unavailability, and subsequent changes in children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and school adjustment difficulties over a 3-year period in a sample of 210 mothers, fathers, and 6-year-old children.…