As evidence for the negative effects of exposure to interparental conflict has accumulated, investigators in the field have turned their attention to the task of uncovering the factors that might help children to be resilient in the face of family stress (Depner, Leino, & Chun, 1992). Central to the concept of resiliency are children's coping efforts (Compas, 1998; Rutter, 1990). Successful coping with stress allows children to overcome adversity and to face future life challenges with optimism. However, depending on the match between the stressor and the strategy used to respond to it, coping can either be a help or a hindrance. For example, in the case of children exposed to interparental conflict, active problem solving may exacerbate the problem by placing children in the middle of their parents' quarrels. Consequently, coping has been given a place in the leading models of the risks and protective factors associated with exposure to interparental conflict (Cummings & Cummings, 1988; Davies & Cummings, 1994; Grych & Fincham, 1990). This chapter reviews the literature concerning the conceptualization and measurement of children's coping, summarizes the empirical evidence on children's responses to interparental conflict and violence, and explores directions for future research.

What is Coping?

The past decade has seen an explosion in the research on children's coping (for reviews, see Boekarets, 1996; Repetti, McGrath, & Ishikawa, 1996; and Wolchik & Sandier, 1997). However, no theories specific to the understanding of children's coping have yet been developed, and work on this topic continues to rely on models devised for adults.