Socialization of Children’s Recall and Use of Strategies for Coping with Interparental Conflict

Using experimental, observational and interview-assessment methods, we examined relations among mother–child discussion skills and suggested strategies for coping with postdivorce interparental conflict in a conflict task, children’s memory for those strategies in a later recall interview, and children’s self-reported use of coping strategies in response to parental conflict at home. Participants included 50, 9–12 year-old children (50% female, 11% Mexican-American, 81% Euro-American, 8% other) and their mothers. Results indicated that the frequency of suggested coping strategies in the conflict task significantly predicted children’s later recall of the same strategies, and recalled strategies significantly predicted children’s self-reported use of the same strategies at home. Mothers’ and children’s discussion skills were less robust predictors of coping, except for secondary control and disengagement coping at-home. Gender and age differences, though few, were consistent with existing literature.