Forgiveness education interventions instruct children and adolescents in understanding forgiveness and its role in healthy relationships. In this meta-analytic review, 20 studies involving 1472 youth (51% female; M[subscript age] = 11.66) from 10 countries (studies: 40% North American, 25% East Asian, 20% Middle Eastern, 15% European) were…

Disoriented, punitive, and caregiving/role-confused attachment behaviors are associated with psychopathology in childhood, but have not been assessed in adolescence. A total of 120 low-income late adolescents (aged 18-23 years) and parents were assessed in a conflict-resolution paradigm. Their interactions were coded with the Goal-Corrected…

A new measure of sibling conflict was used to identify 2 types of conflicts in 115 adolescent sibling pairs (older siblings, M = 15.59, SD = 2.01 years; younger siblings, M = 13.02, SD = 2.06 years). Conflicts overall were more frequent than intense and more likely to involve the invasion of the personal domain than conflicts involving equality…

Sibling relationship quality and social understanding (second-order false belief, conflict interpretation, and narrative conflict perspective references) were examined as unique and interactive correlates of sibling conflict behavior in 62 dyads (older M age = 8.39 years and younger M age = 6.06 years). High-quality relationships were associated…

The effects of training parents to use formal mediation procedures in sibling disputes were examined in 48 families with 5- to 10-years-old children, randomly assigned to mediation and control conditions. Children whose parents were trained in mediation were compared with those whose parents intervened normally. Parents reported that children used…

Compared conflicts between 53 children (median age four years, three months) and their friends to conflicts between nonfriends. In comparison with conflicts among friends, conflicts between neutral associates were no less frequent, were less intense, were resolved more frequently with disengagement, and more frequently resulted in equal outcomes.…

Sixty-four sibling dyads (4-12 years old; 61% males; 83% European-American) were asked to resolve an ongoing conflict. Older siblings provided leadership by suggesting, modifying, justifying, and requesting assent to plans for conflict resolution. Younger siblings countered and disagreed, but also contributed to planning and agreed to their…

Subjects who previously participated in a study of stage transition in moral judgment were reinterviewed after a period of 1 1/2 to 2 years. The hypothesis that the conflicts and contradictions evident on the first testing would be resolved through structural reorganization was confirmed. (Author/JMB)

Examined impact of parental intervention on the quality of conflict behavior in 2- and 4-year olds. Found that parents intervened in fights in which children displayed few de-escalating strategies. Intervention was associated with children using fewer power strategies coupled with an increase in more sophisticated negotiation moves. Results…

Observed in a laboratory setting how dyads, ages 4 and 6 years or 6 and 8 years, negotiated division of toys. Found that children used a preponderance of constructive problem-solving strategies rather than contentious tactics. Degree of conflict of interests and quality of sibling relationships predicted use of problem-solving and contentious…

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)

Examined 5- to 7- and 9- to 12-year-olds' responses to videotaped interadult conflicts in which the content and emotion of endings were either consistent or discrepant. Both younger and older children responded to content and emotion cues with their perceptions of adults' anger and conflict resolution, with positive emotion and nonconflictual…

Previous studies have demonstrated that children's goals are associated with their success in peer relationships. The current study extends earlier findings by examining changes in children's goals during hypothetical conflicts. Participants were 252 children ages 9 to 12 years old (133 boys, 119 girls). As predicted, children's goals changed…

A total of 20 five-year-old children were observed in two different preschools to examine conciliatory and subordinate behaviors following conflicts and to determine these behaviors' relationship to subsequent interaction (i.e., separation or peaceful association). Discusses the importance of conciliatory gestures in resolving social tension. (CB)

The results of two experiments showed that five year olds can learn to solve class-inclusion problems if they are forced to consider the contradiction between their incorrect answers and their correct counting of the superordinate and subordinate classes. (JMB)