Resolution and Children's Responses to Interadult Anger

Children's responses to interadult conflict were examined as a function of degree of resolution of conflict. Children viewed videotaped segments of resolved (compromise, apology), partially resolved (submission, topic change), and unresolved (continued fighting, silent treatment) conflicts and were asked questions about their responses. For all ages (98 5-19 year olds) and responses (perception of anger, children's own emotional responses, dispositions towards involvement), the relative negativity of children's responses closely corresponded to the degree that fights were unresolved. Numerous age and sex effects were found, including the unexpected finding that after age 10, anger elicited more sadness from boys than from girls. The results emphasize the importance of how fights end to children's coping with adult's anger.