Coping with adults' angry behavior: Behavioral, physiological, and verbal responses in preschoolers.

This study replicated and extended a study of Cummings (1987) by examining 4- and 5-year-olds' behavioral and verbal responses to adults' angry behavior and collected data on physiological responses. We found behavioral and verbal responses of distress and that systolic blood pressure increased in response to anger. As in Cummings (1987), children's behavioral emotional responses to anger predicted other aspects of responding. Angry/ambivalent children showed a complex heart rate pattern, including a decrease with the onset of anger, whereas heart rate increased in response to anger for concerned/distressed children. Both groups reported more emotional distress (mostly anger) than unresponsive children, and angry–ambivalent children reported the most nonplay responses (e.g., leave, mediate). The results provide more support for discrete patterns of responding to adults' angry emotions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)