Preschoolers' responses to ongoing interadult conflict: The role of prior exposure to resolved versus unresolved arguments

Abstract

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 behavioural reactions to marital conflict as a function of parents' conflict behaviours and alcohol problems

“…Over time, exposure to unresolved conflict affects the way children perceive many conflicts. Children randomly assigned to see an unresolved conflict reacted to a later ambiguous conflict with more behavioural distress, negative perceptions of the conflicting couple, and greater representations of the couple's relationship as unstable than children assigned to see a resolved conflict (El-Sheikh & Cummings, 1995;El-Sheikh, Cummings, & Reiter, 1996). Thus, when parents are unable to work toward the resolution of conflict, such as when parents stonewall, children may perceive conflict as particularly threatening and be highly motivated to intervene in disputes.…”

“…Most notably, the current study employs a cross-sectional design and definitive statements about causality cannot be made. Both theory and previous longitudinal research have established that parental alcohol problems and marital conflict precede children's emotional insecurity and adjustment difficulties , and experimental studies have found that exposure to marital conflict is causally related to children's reactions to conflict (El Sheikh & Cummings, 1995;El Sheikh et al, 1996). However, current research also suggests that children's behavioural problems predict later marital conflict and parental stress (Jenkins, Simpson, Dunn, Rasbash, & O'Connor, 2005).…”

Infant exposure to domestic violence predicts heightened sensitivity to adult verbal conflict

“…Among the most distressing conflicts are those that involve physical aggression (Cummings, Vogel, Cummings, & El-Sheikh, 1989;Cummings, Zahn-Waxler, & Radke-Yarrow, 1981). Conflicts that are well resolved lead to less negative impact on children (Cummings, Ballard, El-Sheikh, & Lake, 1991;Cummings, Simpson, & Wilson, 1993;El-Sheikh, Cummings, & Reiter, 1996), as well as more positive predictions about the future (El-Sheikh & Cummings, 1995), contributing to emotional security. However, marital conflicts that result in physical violence are by definition not well resolved.…”

Children's responding to live interadult conflict: The role of form of anger expression

“…This behavioral impulse was chosen because of its high frequency, and because it is the most frequently reported response in this context (e.g., El-Sheikh & Cummings, 1992). Gender was included in analyses because it has often been related to reports of wanting to stop interadult arguments (e.g., El-Sheikh, Cummings, & Reiter, 1995).…”