CHILDREN RESPONSES TO INTERADULT ANGER AS A FUNCTION OF INFORMATION ABOUT RESOLUTION

In everyday family environments, conflict resolution in the presence o f children is often not feasible. Can children still benefit from othe r sources of information about resolution? Analogue studies presented 5- to 6-year-old and 9- to 10-year-old children with videotaped scenar ios of interadult conflicts ending in various ways. Study 1 demonstrat ed that negative effects of adults' disputes on children are reduced e ven by ''resolution behind closed doors.'' Study 2 showed that negativ e reactions are also reduced by an adult's subsequent description of a resolution. Even 5- to 6-year-olds were capable of inferring resoluti on from incomplete information.