Distinct Links Between Responsive Parenting and Early Empathic Development

• In Event: Parenting and Children's Empathy Across Age and Risk Context

Abstract

This study examines the contributions of three aspects of maternal responsive parenting—responsiveness to distress, mother-child shared positive affect, and warmth—to children's empathic reactions towards others’ distress and joy, from 3-18 months. We expected a differential pattern of links. Specifically, based on previous research with older children (e.g., Davidov & Grusec, 2006), responsiveness to distress was expected to primarily predict children's empathic concern for others in distress, whereas shared positive affect was expected to primarily predict children's capacity for empathic happiness. Warmth was expected to be less effective in promoting these empathy outcomes.
A longitudinal sample of 165 infants (50% girls) was followed at 3-months, 6-months (N=155), 12-months (N=151), and 18-months (N=147). Responsive parenting measures were assessed when infants were 3- and 6-months-old using behavioral observations, which involved three types of mother-infant interactions: 2-minute play without toys, 3-minute play with toys, and a change of clothes. Interactions were filmed and subsequently coded for maternal responsiveness to infant distress (adapted from Leerkes et al., 2009), and for shared positive affect and warmth (adapted from Davidov & Grusec, 2006). All codes were on 1-5 scales, and inter-rater reliabilities were satisfactory for all measures.
Children's empathy was assessed at all four time-points. Empathic concern for others’ distress was assessed using three different tasks: maternal and experimenter simulations of distress, and a video of a crying peer. Infants’ responses were filmed and coded using Zahn-Waxler and Robinson’s validated coding scheme (with minor adaptations). Children's empathic happiness for others joy was assessed using two tasks: experimenter simulation of happiness and a laughing infant video. Inter-rater reliabilities were all high.
Hypotheses were examined using path analysis (with the lavaan SEM package in R; Rosseel, 2012). The results are presented in Figures 1 and 2. Consistent with predictions, maternal responsiveness to distress at 3 months significantly predicted children's greater empathic concern at 6 and 12 months, and responsiveness to distress at 6 months significantly predicted greater empathic concern at 18 months. Moreover, reflecting a differentiated pattern, responsiveness to distress at either age did not predict children's empathic happiness. Furthermore, mother-infant shared positive affect at 3 months predicted children's greater empathic happiness at 6 months, and shared positive affect at 6 months predicted greater empathic happiness at 12 and 18 months. Also consistent with predictions, shared positive affect at either age was unrelated to children's empathic concern.
We also addressed the direction of influence between responsive parenting and children's empathy, which were both assessed at 3 and 6 months. Results show that shared positive affect and responsiveness to distress significantly predicted children's empathic happiness (β=-0.18) and empathic concern (β=0.21), respectively, whereas the opposite direction of prediction (from child empathy to parenting variables) was not significant. Finally, as expected, maternal warmth did not directly predict children’s empathy. Interestingly, however, warmth predicted more responsive parenting over time, both greater responsiveness to child distress and more shared positive affect.
The results indicate distinct pathways from parenting to different types of empathy. Theoretical implications and future research directions will be discussed.

Authors

• Tal Orlitsky, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  Presenting Author

• Maayan Davidov, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maia Ram Berger, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yael Paz, University of Pennsylvania
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ronit Roth-Hanania, The Academic College of Tel Aviv Yaffo
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carolyn Zahn-Waxler, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Non-Presenting Author