We thank Carol Diencr, Ross Parke, and Thomas Bradbury for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of the article.

Guided by Grych and Fincham's theoretical framework for investigating the relation between interparental conflict and child adjustment, a questionnaire was developed to assess children's views of several aspects of marital conflict. The Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale (CPIC) was initially examined in a sample of 222 9-12-year-old children, and results were cross-validated in a second sample of 144 similarly aged children. 3 factor analytically derived subscales (Conflict Properties, Threat, Self-Blame) demonstrated acceptable levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The validity of the Conflict Properties scale was supported by significant relations with parent reports of conflict and indices of child adjustment; the Threat and Self-Blame scales correlated with children's responses to specific conflict vignettes. The CPIC thus appears to be a promising instrument for assessing perceived marital conflict, and several issues regarding its interpretation are discussed.

Children's appraisals of interparental conflict consistently have been associated with adjustment problems, but the processes that give rise to this association are not well understood. This paper proposes that appraisals of threat and self-blame mediate the association between children's reports of interparental conflict and internalizing problems, and tests this mediational hypothesis in two samples of children, one drawn from the community (317 ten- to fourteen-year-olds) and the other from battered women's shelters (145 ten- to twelve-year-olds). Results indicate that perceived threat mediates the association between interparental conflict and internalizing problems for boys and girls in both samples, and self-blame mediates this association for boys in both samples and girls in the shelter sample. Perceived threat and self-blame do not mediate links with externalizing problems, and there is no evidence of a moderating effect of appraisals on the association between conflict and child adjustment. Implications for understanding the mechanism by which exposure to interparental conflict could lead to child maladjustment are discussed.

This longitudinal study tested the role of children's appraisals of threat and self-blame as mediators of the association between interparental conflict and child adjustment in a sample of 298 Welsh children ages 11 to 12 years. Exposure to higher levels of interparental conflict at Time 1 predicted greater perceived threat and self-blame at Time 2, after accounting for the effects of Time 1 adjustment and appraisals on later appraisals. Perceived threat in turn was associated with increased internalizing problems at Tune 2, and self-blame was associated with higher externalizing problems. The pattern of results was largely consistent for child and parent reports of conflict and for boys and girls, though some gender differences were found in associations between appraisals and adjustment.

2 studies examined children's appraisals of marital conflict. In Study 1, 45 11- and 12-year-olds reported cognitive, affective, and coping responses to conflicts varying in content and intensity. When conflict concerned the child, children reported more shame and fear of being drawn into the conflict and tended to endorse coping responses that involved direct intervention in it. More intense conflicts led to greater negative affect and perceived threat. In Study 2, 112 12-year-olds responded to conflicts that included a parent-blaming or child-blaming explanation or gave no explanation for the conflict. Explanations that absolved the children of blame for the conflict decreased their fear of becoming involved in the conflict and their desire to intervene in it. These findings show that appraisals of marital conflict are influenced by its content, intensity, and cause and suggest that the meaning of conflict to children is an important determinant of its impact.