Children's past experiences with interadult conflict are likely to influence their responses to ongoing arguments. Preschoolers' (4- to 5-year-olds) responses to interadult conflict were examined as a function of experimentally manipulated histories of exposure to resolved and unresolved arguments. Children were presented with two live arguments that were either resolved or unresolved, then they were presented with a third argument that was interrupted in progress (i.e., unresolved), and they were interviewed next. Children's overt-behavioral responses were videotaped and coded for distress level. The results support the notion that past experiences with conflict resolution ameliorate children's distress responses to ongoing arguments. In comparison to children previously exposed to unresolved conflict, those exposed to a history of resolved disputes were more likely to (a) exhibit lowered behavioral distress, (b) predict a lower likelihood of a conflictual outcome for the couple's argument, (c) report less negative perceptions of the arguing adults, and were less likely to (d) endorse intervention in conflict through attempts to stop the disputes; (c) and (d) pertained only to girls.

Children's responses to interadult arguments were examined as a function of three forms of disputes: covert, verbal, and physical. Four- to seven-year-olds' overt-behavioral responses to live enactments of arguments between a male and a female were videotaped and coded for behavioral distress and anger/aggression, and children were then interviewed. Although children exhibited overt-behavioral distress in response to all forms of disputes, physical arguments evoked the highest levels of distress. Some gender differences in responding were observed. In comparison to boys, girls exhibited more overt distress during the arguments, and wanted to stop physical arguments more frequently. The results extend findings based on the videotape methodology of the presentation of interadult arguments indicating that form of anger expression impacts children's emotional responding to interadult conflict.

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