Latino children's responses to simulated interparental conflict

Seventy Latino children from homes with physically aggressive and nonphysic ally aggressive marital conflict reported affective, cognitive, and behavio ral responses to simulated marital conflicts varying in intensity and conte nt. Results indicate that children who have witnessed marital violence expe ct more conflict escalation and endorse more parent- and child-blaming resp onses than no children who have not witnessed marital violence. In response to child-related compared to nonchild-related marital conflict, children e xperience more negative affect, self-blame, and feelings of self-efficacy, and report fewer statements regarding parents' negative affect and parent b lame. Children are more likely to blame their parents in response to high- than low-intensity marital conflict. Consistent with Grych and Fincham's (1 990) cognitive-contextual theory, these results suggest that Latino childre n's responses to novel episodes of marital conflict are influenced by previ ous exposure to marital conflict as well as variations in conflict content and intensity.