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Drew R, Tan E, Yuen F, Hamlin JK. We aren't especially fearful apes, and fearful apes aren't especially prosocial. Behav Brain Sci 2023; 46:e60. [PMID: 37154380 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x22001807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Grossmann posits that heightened fearfulness in humans evolved to facilitate cooperative caregiving. We argue that three of his claims - that children express more fear than other apes, that they are uniquely responsive to fearful expressions, and that expression and perception of fear are linked with prosocial behaviors - are inconsistent with existing literature or require additional supporting evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raechel Drew
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Enda Tan
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-1131, USA
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-1131, USA
| | - Francis Yuen
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - J Kiley Hamlin
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
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2
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MacGowan TL, Karasewich TA, Kuhlmeier VA. Developmental and evolutionary models of social fear can address "the human fear paradox". Behav Brain Sci 2023; 46:e70. [PMID: 37154349 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x22001868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Taigan L MacGowan
- Social Cognition Lab (P.I.: V. Kuhlmeier), Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada ; ; ://www.socialcognitionlab.com/
| | - Tara A Karasewich
- Social Cognition Lab (P.I.: V. Kuhlmeier), Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada ; ; ://www.socialcognitionlab.com/
| | - Valerie A Kuhlmeier
- Social Cognition Lab (P.I.: V. Kuhlmeier), Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada ; ; ://www.socialcognitionlab.com/
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Abstract
Children's unique developmental and contextual needs make it challenging to measure empathy validly and reliably. This scoping review is the first to collate currently available information about self-report, other-report, and performance-based questionnaire measures of empathy for children aged up to 11 years. Following the guidelines for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR; Tricco et al., 2018), a literature search using PsycINFO, Scopus, and Google Scholar identified 24 relevant measures of empathy in children, with publication years spanning 1958 to 2019. Questionnaires could broadly be classified into four groups, according to the extent to which they were developed with children's developmental needs and contexts in mind, and were based on contemporary theory and research findings. There was a distinction between performance-based measures, which elicited children's empathy-related responses to novel content and therefore assessed situational state empathy, and self- and other-report measures, which rated children's general empathic tendencies and thus assessed dispositional trait empathy. Results highlighted the importance of researchers having clarity on their definition of empathy and choosing measures consistent with this, and the merit of utilizing a multimodal assessment approach.
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Becher T, Essler S, Pletti C, Paulus M. Compliance or empathy-What links maternal sensitivity and toddlers' emotional helping? J Exp Child Psychol 2023; 226:105547. [PMID: 36194901 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2021] [Revised: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Emotional helping-that is, helping based on others' emotional distress-has been suggested to be a central prosocial response to others in need. Developmental theorizing proposed that emotional helping has social origins. Whereas research indeed demonstrated a link between maternal sensitivity and children's emotional helping, developmental theories stress different mediating processes. Emotion-sharing theories claim empathic concern to be the crucial link for helping, whereas internalization theories base children's helping on children's compliance. To investigate these hypotheses, the current study explored empathy and compliance as two possible mediators for the relation between maternal sensitivity and children's emotional helping at 18 months of age. Overall, maternal sensitivity was positively related to children's empathy, children's compliance, and children's emotional helping. Interestingly, children's empathy-but not children's compliance-mediated the link between maternal sensitivity and children's emotional helping. These findings deepen our understanding of the psychological processes subserving emotional helping during infancy and support theories that stress the socioemotional origins of children's prosocial behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Becher
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80802 Munich, Germany.
| | - Samuel Essler
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80802 Munich, Germany; FOM University of Applied Sciences, 45127 Essen, Germany
| | - Carolina Pletti
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80802 Munich, Germany
| | - Markus Paulus
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80802 Munich, Germany
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Karasewich TA, Hines C, Pinheiro SGV, Buchenrieder N, Dunfield KA, Kuhlmeier VA. Examining the influence of shyness on children's helping and comforting behaviour. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1128588. [PMID: 36923150 PMCID: PMC10008939 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1128588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Shy children, who tend to feel anxious around others and withdraw from social interactions, are found to be less prosocial than their not-shy peers in some studies, though not in others. To examine the contexts in which shy children may be more or less likely to engage in prosocial behaviour, we compared children's willingness and ability to intervene during in-person tasks that differed in social engagement demands and complexity, factors that have been conflated in past research. Methods We presented 42, 3.5- to 4.5-year-old children with prosocial problems that varied, in a 2 x 2 within-subjects design, by the type of intervention required (i.e., simple helping or complex comforting) and the source of the problem (i.e., social: within the experimenter's personal space; or object: a target object distanced from her). Results Most of the children acted prosocially, with little prompting, in the two helping tasks and in the object-centered comforting task. In contrast, fewer than half of the children acted prosocially in the social-centered comforting task. Shyer children were not less likely to intervene in any of the four tasks, but they were slower to intervene in the object-centred comforting task, in which the experimenter was upset about a broken toy. Discussion Thus, providing social-centered comfort to a recently-introduced adult is challenging for young children, regardless of shyness, though shy children do show hesitancy with object-centered comforting. Further, these findings provide insights into the methodological challenges of disentangling children's prosocial motivation and understanding, and we propose solutions to these challenges for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cameron Hines
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Takamatsu R. Empathy and group processes in Japanese preschool children: The odd one out among friends receives less empathic concern than out-groups. J Exp Child Psychol 2022; 221:105460. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2021] [Revised: 04/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Schütz J, Koglin U. A systematic review and meta-analysis of associations between self-regulation and morality in preschool and elementary school children. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03226-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe importance of self-regulatory skills for the socio-emotional competencies of children is being researched and discussed extensively. However, in order to make a clear statement about the impact of self-regulation on children’s morality, a systematic review of the literature is urgently needed. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to analyze associations between self-regulation and morality of preschool and elementary school children. In this context, distinctions among different definitions and operationalizations of self-regulation and morality are considered. Search terms were entered in the bibliographic databases PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science. To meet the inclusion criterion, studies needed to report empirical associations between self-regulation and morality in children of preschool and elementary school age. Furthermore, the studies should report primary data and be published in English in a peer-reviewed journal. Studies with secondary or summarized data, special populations or with certain designs were excluded. A total of 37 studies were included in the narrative synthesis. 35 of these studies were included in the meta-analysis. The narrative synthesis showed that different definitions and operationalizations were used for both self-regulation and morality. There also seems to be no consensus regarding the association between the constructs. Meta-analysis results revealed a small positive combined effect between self-regulation and morality, especially between temperament-related self-regulation and moral behavior and moral emotions. In order to gain a better understanding of the effects of self-regulation on morality, longitudinal research and further research addressing different forms of these constructs are essential.
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St. Pierre T, White KS, Johnson EK. Experimenter identity: An invisible, lurking variable in developmental research. INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/icd.2357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas St. Pierre
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga Ontario Canada
| | | | - Elizabeth K. Johnson
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga Ontario Canada
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto Toronto Ontario Canada
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MacGowan TL, Mirabelli J, Obhi SS, Schmidt LA. Observed shyness leads to more automatic imitation in early childhood. Dev Psychobiol 2022; 64:e22272. [DOI: 10.1002/dev.22272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Taigan L. MacGowan
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada
| | - James Mirabelli
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada
| | - Sukhvinder S. Obhi
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada
| | - Louis A. Schmidt
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada
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Rigato S, Charalambous S, Stets M, Holmboe K. Maternal depressive symptoms and infant temperament in the first year of life predict child behavior at 36 months of age. Infant Behav Dev 2022; 67:101717. [PMID: 35452976 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Revised: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
In a longitudinal study, mothers (N = 50) self-reported on their depressive symptoms (DS) and their child's behavior during the first year and at 36 months postpartum. Maternal DS during infancy were associated with child conduct problems (CP), suggesting a long-term association between maternal mental health and the development of child behavior. Infant temperament was also associated with child behavior so that negative affect predicted child CP, while infant surgency was associated with later hyperactivity-inattention. This study contributes to the literature by jointly assessing the role of maternal DS and infant temperament and showing that these are independent predictors of childhood behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Rigato
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, UK.
| | | | - Manuela Stets
- School of Psychology & Sport Science, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Karla Holmboe
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK
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Abdolrezapour P, Ghanbari N. The Effect of Positive Psychology Intervention on EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC RESEARCH 2021; 50:1159-1180. [PMID: 33909199 DOI: 10.1007/s10936-021-09780-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
This study applies positive psychology to improve EFL learners' listening comprehension ability. To this aim, two groups of EFL learners (N = 45) participated in the study. The learners in the experimental group received the positive psychology intervention based on four components of positive psychology including hope, gratitude, emotion regulation, and empathy and those in the control group received the usual listening comprehension activities. The results including listening comprehension scores along with the analysis of the semi-structured interviews and class observations showed the effectiveness of the intervention, highlighting an increase in the students' listening comprehension scores. It was found that the experimental group experienced a range of positive and negative emotions, with positive emotions more than twice as frequent as negative emotions. The findings also showed that the intervention informed the instructor regarding specific areas where the learners encountered difficulty and in so doing, it allowed for applying appropriate strategies to help them overcome such problems. Finally, the theoretical and pedagogical implications of integrating positive emotions in foreign language teaching are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nasim Ghanbari
- Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr 75169, Iran
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Helping as prosocial practice: Longitudinal relations among children's shyness, helping behavior, and empathic response. J Exp Child Psychol 2021; 209:105154. [PMID: 34087602 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Revised: 03/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Although shyness has been found to be a concurrent constraint on young children's empathy and instrumental helping, there is limited evidence to suggest that this temperamental profile has longitudinal effects on prosocial behaviors. Here, we examined the concurrent and longitudinal relations between children's shyness and prosocial behaviors, as well as the intervening impact of instrumental helping behavior on later empathic response in typically developing children (N = 86; 45 female). Shyness was coded from direct observations and reported by parents at Time 1 (Mage = 54.3 months, SD = 2.9), Time 2 (Mage = 66.5 months, SD = 2.8), and Time 3 (Mage = 77.9 months, SD = 2.8), helping behavior was assessed at Time 2, and data on cognitive and affective empathy were collected at Time 3. Increases in shyness resulted in longitudinal reductions of affective empathy but not cognitive empathy or instrumental helping. As well, Time 2 helping behavior mediated the relation between Time 1 shyness and Time 3 affective empathy and, to some extent, the relation between Time 2 shyness and Time 3 affective empathy. These findings suggest that shyness concurrently impedes early helping behaviors, and that this withdrawal may contribute to reductions in shy children's prosocial learning opportunities that inform later empathic responses.
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14
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The moral self-concept in preschool children: Its dimensions and relation to prosocial behaviors. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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15
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Pavlova M, Graham SA, Peterson C, Lund T, Kennedy M, Nania C, Noel M. The Socialization of Young Children's Empathy for Pain: The Role of Mother- and Father-Child Reminiscing. J Pediatr Psychol 2021; 46:314-323. [PMID: 33306792 DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsaa107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2020] [Revised: 10/20/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Empathy for pain allows one to recognize, understand, and respond to another person's pain in a prosocial manner. Young children develop empathy for pain later than empathy for other negative emotions (e.g., sadness), which may be due to social learning. How parents reminisce with children about past painful events has been linked to children's pain cognitions (e.g., memory) and broader socioemotional development. The present study examined how parent-child reminiscing about pain may be linked to children's empathic behaviors toward another person's pain. METHODS One hundred and fourteen 4-year-old children (55% girls) and for each, one parent (51% fathers) completed a structured narrative elicitation task wherein they reminisced about a past painful autobiographical event for the child. Children were then observed responding in a lab-based empathy task wherein they witnessed a confederate pretending to hurt themselves. Children's empathic behaviors and parent-child narratives about past painful events were coded using established coding schemes. RESULTS Findings revealed that parents who used more neutral emotion language (e.g., How did you feel?) when discussing past painful events had children who exhibited more empathic concern in response to another's pain. Similarly, children who used more explanations when reminiscing about past painful events displayed more empathic concern about another's pain. CONCLUSIONS Findings highlight a key role of parent-child reminiscing about the past pain in the behavioral expression of empathy for pain in young children.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Susan A Graham
- Owerko Centre and Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Hotchkiss Brain Institute
| | - Carole Peterson
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland
| | | | | | - Cara Nania
- Department of Psychology, University of Calgary
| | - Melanie Noel
- Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Owerko Centre
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Paz Y, Orlitsky T, Roth-Hanania R, Zahn-Waxler C, Davidov M. Predicting externalizing behavior in toddlerhood from early individual differences in empathy. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2021; 62:66-74. [PMID: 32645218 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.13247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND From middle childhood onward, there is often a negative link between empathy and externalizing behavior problems. Patterns at younger ages are still unclear, with mixed findings of no association, negative associations, and positive associations. This study examines links between empathy and externalizing problems, beginning in infancy. METHODS A community sample of infants (N = 165) was assessed for empathy at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 36 months, using behavioral observations. Externalizing problems were reported at 18 months (by mothers) and 36 months (by mothers and daycare teachers). RESULTS Boys showed more externalizing problems than girls. For boys, negative associations between empathy and externalizing appeared, particularly with teacher reports. For girls, there were positive associations between empathy and externalizing, which weakened with age. For both genders, empathy at ages 3, 6, and 18 months appeared to protect against increases in externalizing from 18 to 36 months. CONCLUSIONS The role of empathy in the development of early externalizing depends on both gender and age; toddler boys' externalizing may more typically stem from low empathy, whereas girls' early externalizing appears to be underlain by heightened sensitivity and unregulated or assertive approach attempts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yael Paz
- School of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Tal Orlitsky
- School of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ronit Roth-Hanania
- School of Behavioral Sciences, Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | | | - Maayan Davidov
- School of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
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MacGowan TL, Tasker SL, Schmidt LA. Differences in Established Joint Attention in Hearing-Hearing and Hearing-Deaf Mother-Child Dyads: Associations With Social Competence, Settings, and Tasks. Child Dev 2020; 92:1388-1402. [PMID: 33325060 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The authors examined relations among observed joint attention, maternal report of child's social competence, setting (home vs. laboratory), task (unstructured vs. semi-structured), and dyad type [hearing mother-hearing child (n = 55, Mage = 25.8 months) vs. hearing mother-deaf child (n = 27, Mage = 26.9 months)]. Hearing child dyads scored higher on joint attention during unstructured tasks, especially in their home environment. Hearing child dyads displayed similar joint attention to deaf toddler dyads when they engaged in a semi-structured task, but higher on these measures during unstructured free play. Unlike hearing children, joint attention was differentially related to social competence in deaf children, with relatively higher versus lower social competence depending on relatively high versus low observed joint attention, respectively.
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Abstract
Childhood conduct disorders, a serious mental health concern, put children at risk for significant mental health problems throughout development. Elevations on callous-unemotional (CU) traits designate a subgroup of youth with conduct disorders who have unique causal processes underlying their problem behavior and are at a particularly high risk for serious impairment relative to others with these disorders. As a result, these traits have recently been integrated into major diagnostic classification systems for conduct disorders. Given that CU traits are partly defined by deficits in empathy, we review research on empathy development in typically developing children and use this research to (a) advance theories on the specific emotional deficits that may be associated with CU traits, (b) explain the severe pattern of aggressive behavior displayed by children with elevated CU traits, and (c) suggest possible ways to enhance prevention and treatment for children with conduct disorders and elevated CU traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J Frick
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA; , .,Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane 4001, Australia
| | - Emily C Kemp
- Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA; ,
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Bellucci G, Camilleri JA, Eickhoff SB, Krueger F. Neural signatures of prosocial behaviors. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 118:186-195. [PMID: 32707344 PMCID: PMC7958651 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2020] [Revised: 05/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Prosocial behaviors are hypothesized to require socio-cognitive and empathic abilities-engaging brain regions attributed to the mentalizing and empathy brain networks. Here, we tested this hypothesis with a coordinate-based meta-analysis of 600 neuroimaging studies on prosociality, mentalizing and empathy (∼12,000 individuals). We showed that brain areas recruited by prosocial behaviors only partially overlap with the mentalizing (dorsal posterior cingulate cortex) and empathy networks (middle cingulate cortex). Additionally, the dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortices were preferentially activated by prosocial behaviors. Analyses on the functional connectivity profile and functional roles of the neural patterns underlying prosociality revealed that in addition to socio-cognitive and empathic processes, prosocial behaviors further involve evaluation processes and action planning, likely to select the action sequence that best satisfies another person's needs. By characterizing the multidimensional construct of prosociality at the neural level, we provide insights that may support a better understanding of normal and abnormal social cognition (e.g., psychopathy).
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Bellucci
- Department of Computational Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Julia A Camilleri
- Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Germany; Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Germany; Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Frank Krueger
- School of Systems Biology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA; Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
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Distinct Empathy Profiles in Callous Unemotional and Autistic Traits: Investigating Unique and Interactive Associations with Affective and Cognitive Empathy. JOURNAL OF ABNORMAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 2020; 47:1863-1873. [PMID: 31230188 DOI: 10.1007/s10802-019-00562-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Empathy deficits are a hallmark of both callous-unemotional (CU) and autistic traits. However, it is unclear whether each trait is associated with deficits in distinct empathy subcomponents. The aim of the current study was to investigate the main and interactive effects of CU and autistic traits in predicting affective and cognitive empathy. We used data of 163 children (Mage = 7.30, SD = 1.42, 44.2% girls), selected from a large community sample (N = 1652). To ensure variability in empathy, we recruited participants with either low (1 standard-deviation below the mean; n = 78) or average to high (n = 85) levels of empathy. Partial correlation and regression analysis revealed that autistic traits were negatively associated with cognitive empathy, whereas CU traits were negatively related with both cognitive and affective empathy. Importantly, this is the first study testing the moderating effects of gender, revealing that CU traits negatively predicted affective empathy only among girls high on autistic traits. Findings can be used to understand the different empathy profiles of children with CU or autistic traits, and inform the development of effective interventions.
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Zhai S, Lu C, Han J, Du S, Wu W, He J. The roles of temperamental inhibition in affective and cognitive empathy in Chinese toddlers. INFANCY 2020; 25:888-909. [PMID: 32949484 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2019] [Revised: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 08/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Empathy, crucial to harmonious interpersonal relationships and moral development, has both affective and cognitive components. Previous studies found that toddlers' temperamental inhibition may influence their empathy, but mainly focused on emotional response to others' distress. Little is known about whether inhibited children's poor empathy is due to high reactivity and social withdrawal when sharing others' affective states, such as distress (affective empathy), or to a difficulty in comprehending and inferring others' perspective (cognitive empathy). The current study investigated the role of behavioral inhibition (BI) in affective empathy (response to pain simulation) and cognitive empathy (performance in perspective-taking task) among 163 Chinese toddlers and tested in both only and non-only children. Correlation analyses showed that BI was only negatively associated with affective empathy. The relation between BI and cognitive empathy was moderated by self-regulation and inhibited children who were low in self-regulation presented low cognitive empathy. Additionally, only children presented advanced cognitive empathy but poorer affective empathy than non-only children. These findings imply different roles of BI in affective versus cognitive empathy in early childhood. Although highly inhibited children rarely show positive social expression toward others' distress, caution is needed in inferring that they lack a capacity for cognitive empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuyi Zhai
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Chenxin Lu
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jinjing Han
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Shuiyun Du
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Weiyang Wu
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jie He
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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MacGowan TL, Schmidt LA. Getting to the heart of childhood empathy: Relations with shyness and respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Dev Psychobiol 2020; 63:e22035. [PMID: 32945552 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Revised: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Although prior studies have found that shyness and empathy are inversely related and that well-regulated children tend to express empathic behaviors more often, little work has assessed combinations of these factors in predicting affective and cognitive empathy in early childhood. The authors examined relations among shyness, resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and observed affective and cognitive empathy in a sample of 130 typically developing children (Mage = 63.5 months, SD = 12.2; 62 males). Shyness was assessed by observing children's behaviors during a self-presentation task, and this observed measure was then combined with a maternal report of children's temperamental shyness. Children's shyness predicted lower levels of both affective and cognitive responses to an experimenter feigning an injury. Resting RSA moderated the relation between children's shyness and observed empathy such that relatively higher shyness combined with lower RSA levels conferred the lowest levels of cognitive empathy. Children who were relatively low in shyness exhibited similar levels of cognitive empathy across different levels of RSA. However, this moderation was not found when predicting children's affective empathy. Our results suggest that not all shy children are alike in terms of their empathic behaviors: shy children who are physiologically dysregulated appear to have difficulties exploring and/or processing others' pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taigan L MacGowan
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Louis A Schmidt
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
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23
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Zava F, Sette S, Baumgartner E, Coplan RJ. Shyness and empathy in early childhood: Examining links between feelings of empathy and empathetic behaviours. BRITISH JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020; 39:54-77. [PMID: 32918304 DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2019] [Revised: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Although shy children have been described as less empathetic than their more sociable peers, this may be due to a performance rather than a competence deficit. The aim of this study was to explore the moderating role of shyness in the association between empathic feelings and empathic-related reactions. Participants were 212 preschoolers (Mage = 58.32 months, SD = 10.72). Children provided self-reports of empathetic feelings, parents rated child shyness and empathic behaviours (e.g., reparative behaviours), and teachers assessed indices of socio-emotional functioning (e.g., prosocial behaviours). Results revealed interaction effects between empathic feelings and shyness in the prediction of outcome variables. Among children with lower levels of shyness, empathy rated by children was positively related to empathetic and reparative behaviours (rated by parents) and prosocial behaviours (rated by teachers). At higher levels of shyness, these relations were attenuated. These results can be interpreted to suggest that although shy children may not differ from their more sociable counterparts in experiencing empathy, they seem to be less likely to act empathically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Zava
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Stefania Sette
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Emma Baumgartner
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
| | - Robert J Coplan
- Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
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24
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Davidov M, Paz Y, Roth-Hanania R, Uzefovsky F, Orlitsky T, Mankuta D, Zahn-Waxler C. Caring babies: Concern for others in distress during infancy. Dev Sci 2020; 24:e13016. [PMID: 32649796 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2019] [Revised: 06/20/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Concern for distressed others is a highly valued human capacity, but little is known about its early ontogeny. Theoretical accounts of empathy development have emphasized stages, but this has been called into question. This study sheds new light on four key issues: onset, consistency, development, and predictive power of early manifestations of concern for others. Three-month-old Israei infants (N = 165) were followed longitudinally at ages 6, 12, and 18 months, and their observed responses to others' distress were assessed. Concern for distressed others was seen early in the first year of life, long before previous theories assumed. Empathic concern was moderately consistent across both situation and age, from as early as 3 months. Concern for others grew only modestly with age, plateauing during the second year, whereas prosocial behavior increased rapidly during the second year. Early individual differences in concern for others predicted later prosocial behavior on behalf of distressed others. Findings underscore the early roots of caring, and appear to refute assumptions of prior stage theories of empathy development, by showing that concern for others develops much earlier and more gradually than previously assumed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yael Paz
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | | | | | - Tal Orlitsky
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - David Mankuta
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.,Hadassah Ein Karem Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
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25
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Taylor LK. The Developmental Peacebuilding Model (DPM) of Children’s Prosocial Behaviors in Settings of Intergroup Conflict. CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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26
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Walle EA, Reschke PJ, Main A, Shannon RM. The effect of emotional communication on infants' distinct prosocial behaviors. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Eric A. Walle
- Psychological Sciences University of California Merced CA USA
| | | | - Alexandra Main
- Psychological Sciences University of California Merced CA USA
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27
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Noten MMPG, van der Heijden KB, Huijbregts SCJ, van Goozen SHM, Swaab H. Infant emotional responses to challenge predict empathic behavior in toddlerhood. Dev Psychobiol 2020; 62:454-470. [PMID: 31489632 PMCID: PMC7217152 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2018] [Revised: 06/28/2019] [Accepted: 07/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Although emotional responses are theorized to be important in the development of empathy, findings regarding the prediction of early empathic behavior by infant behavioral and physiological responses are mixed. This study examined whether behavioral and physiological responses to mild emotional challenge (still face paradigm and car seat task) in 118 infants at age 6 months predicted empathic distress and empathic concern in response to an empathy-evoking task (i.e, experimenter's distress simulation) at age 20 months. Correlation analyses, corrected for sex and baseline levels of physiological arousal, showed that stronger physiological and behavioral responses to emotional challenge at age 6 months were positively related to observed empathic distress, but not empathic concern, at age 20 months. Linear regression analyses indicated that physiological and behavioral responses to challenge at 6 months independently predicted empathic distress at 20 months, which suggests an important role for both physiological and behavioral emotional responses in empathy development. In addition, curvilinear regression analyses showed quadratic associations between behavioral responses at 6 months, and empathic distress and empathic concern at 20 months, which indicates that moderate levels of behavioral responsivity predict the highest levels of empathic distress and empathic concern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malou M. P. G. Noten
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental SciencesLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and CognitionLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
| | - Kristiaan B. van der Heijden
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental SciencesLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and CognitionLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
| | - Stephan C. J. Huijbregts
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental SciencesLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and CognitionLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
| | - Stephanie H. M. van Goozen
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental SciencesLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
- School of PsychologyCardiff UniversityCardiffUnited Kingdom
| | - Hanna Swaab
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental SciencesLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and CognitionLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
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28
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Lin HC, Janice J. Disengagement is as revealing as prosocial action for young children’s responding to strangers in distress: How personal distress and empathic concern come into play. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT 2020. [DOI: 10.1177/0165025420912015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
In a paradigm of simulated stranger distress designed to elicit empathic arousal, this study examined multiple elements of responding in 61 preschoolers. Disengagement from stranger distress was underscored in addition to prosocial responding. All children encountered a female adult stranger feigning stomach ache followed by an infant manikin emitting cry sound in a bassinet. Behaviors were coded for other-oriented behaviors, personal distress, and disengagement. In contrast to the traditional supposition, behaviors indicative of personal distress covaried positively with empathic concern and negatively with disengagement. The findings of multiple regression analysis demonstrated how empathic concern and personal distress jointly related to disengaging behaviors in children’s response to stranger distress.
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29
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MacGowan TL, Schmidt LA. Shyness, aggression, and empathy in children of shy mothers: Moderating influence of children's psychophysiological self‐regulation. Dev Psychobiol 2020; 62:324-338. [DOI: 10.1002/dev.21918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2018] [Revised: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Taigan L. MacGowan
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour McMaster University Hamilton ON Canada
| | - Louis A. Schmidt
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour McMaster University Hamilton ON Canada
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30
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Noten MMPG, Van der Heijden KB, Huijbregts SCJ, Van Goozen SHM, Swaab H. Associations between empathy, inhibitory control, and physical aggression in toddlerhood. Dev Psychobiol 2020; 62:871-881. [PMID: 31998974 PMCID: PMC7496157 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2019] [Revised: 12/20/2019] [Accepted: 12/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Impaired empathy has been associated with aggression in children, adolescents and adults, but results have been contradictory for the preschool period. Impaired inhibitory control also increases the risk of aggression, and possibly moderates empathy‐aggression associations. The current study investigated whether empathy and inhibitory control are associated with aggression in toddlerhood. Furthermore, we aimed to clarify the role of inhibitory control in empathy and aggression, specifically, whether inhibitory control moderates the association between empathy and aggression. During a laboratory visit at age 30 months (N = 103), maternal reports of physical aggression were obtained and child inhibitory control was examined using a gift delay task. Empathy was examined by obtaining behavioral observations and recording physiological responses (heart rate response and respiratory sinus arrhythmia response) to an empathy‐eliciting event (i.e., simulated distress). Reduced inhibitory control was associated with more aggression. Behavioral and physiological indicators of empathy were not associated with aggression. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed an interaction effect of heart rate response to distress simulation with inhibitory control in the prediction of aggression. Post hoc analyses indicated a negative association between heart rate response and aggression when inhibitory control was high, but a positive association was found in toddlers who demonstrated low inhibitory control. These results suggest that children are less aggressive when they have both high levels of empathy and inhibitory control. Therefore, both empathy and inhibition are important targets for interventions aiming to reduce or prevent aggression at a young age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malou M P G Noten
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Kristiaan B Van der Heijden
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Stephan C J Huijbregts
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Stephanie H M Van Goozen
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.,School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Hanna Swaab
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, The Netherlands
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31
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Siu TSC, Cheung H. Developmental progression of mental state understandings in infancy. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT 2019. [DOI: 10.1177/0165025419830233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
This study establishes a sequence of developing mental state understandings in infants. We used three violation-of-expectation paradigms to assess fifty-seven 16-month-olds’ ability to (a) infer an actress’s intention from her prior repeated approaches to an object, (b) recognize her emotion by watching her facial-emotional display, and (c) deduce her false belief by noticing her lack of visual access to a change in the experimental setup. Contingencies between passing the three tasks were analyzed. Results showed that the infants made sense of intention first, followed by emotion, and then false belief. This progressive sequence parallels what has been found with preschoolers using verbal theory-of-mind tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tik-Sze Carrey Siu
- Department of Early Childhood Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Him Cheung
- Department of Psychology, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
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32
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Ştefan CA, Avram J. Investigating Attachment Status Effects on Preschoolers’ Empathic Perspective-Taking. CHILD & YOUTH CARE FORUM 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10566-019-09498-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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33
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Hepach R, Vaish A, Müller K, Tomasello M. The relation between young children's physiological arousal and their motivation to help others. Neuropsychologia 2019; 126:113-119. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2017] [Revised: 08/28/2017] [Accepted: 10/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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34
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Ruffman T, Then R, Cheng C, Imuta K. Lifespan differences in emotional contagion while watching emotion-eliciting videos. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0209253. [PMID: 30657754 PMCID: PMC6338362 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2018] [Accepted: 12/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research has examined empathic concern by presenting toddlers with a sad stimulus and examining their emotional response, with the conclusion that toddlers display empathy. Yet, such research has failed to include basic control conditions involving some other aversive stimulus such as white noise. Nor has it compared toddlers to adults to examine potential development in empathy. In the present study, we showed toddlers and adults four video types: infant crying, infant laughing, infant babbling, and a neutral infant accompanied by white noise. We then coded happiness and sadness while viewing the videos, and created a difference score (happiness minus sadness), testing 52 toddlers and 61 adults. Whereas adults showed more sadness towards infant crying than any other stimulus, toddlers' response to crying and white noise was similar. Thus, the toddler response to crying was comparable to previous studies (slight sadness), but was no different to white noise and was significantly reduced relative to adults. As such, toddlers' response seemed to be better characterized as a reaction to an aversive stimulus rather than empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ted Ruffman
- Department of Psychology, University of OtagoDunedin, New Zealand
| | - Rebecca Then
- Department of Psychology, University of OtagoDunedin, New Zealand
| | - Christie Cheng
- Department of Psychology, University of OtagoDunedin, New Zealand
| | - Kana Imuta
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia
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35
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Noten MMPG, van der Heijden KB, Huijbregts SCJ, Bouw N, van Goozen SHM, Swaab H. Empathic distress and concern predict aggression in toddlerhood: The moderating role of sex. Infant Behav Dev 2019; 54:57-65. [PMID: 30622054 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2018.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2018] [Revised: 10/26/2018] [Accepted: 11/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Impaired empathy is an important risk factor of aggression, but results are contradictory in toddlerhood. The association between empathy and aggression may differ for empathic distress and empathic concern in response to empathy-evoking situations, and for boys and girls. Therefore, the current study investigated whether empathic distress and empathic concern at age 20 months (N = 133, 69 boys) predicted aggression at ages 20 and 30 months (N = 119, 62 boys), while taking a potential moderating effect of sex into account. Empathic behavior was observed during a distress simulation task 20 months post-partum. Physical aggression was assessed through maternal report, using the Physical Aggression Scale for Early Childhood. Linear regression analyses revealed sex differences in the associations between empathic distress and concern on the one hand and physical aggression at age 20 months on the other. Furthermore, physical aggression at age 30 months was predicted by the interaction of sex with empathic distress at age 20 months, while controlling for aggression at age 20 months. More empathic distress and concern were associated with less physical aggression in girls, but not in boys. The findings indicate that the prediction of physical aggression by empathic distress was more robust over time than for empathic concern. This study sheds new light on the intricate relationship between empathy, aggression, and sex from a developmental perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- M M P G Noten
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - K B van der Heijden
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - S C J Huijbregts
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - N Bouw
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - S H M van Goozen
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - H Swaab
- Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
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36
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Xiao SX, Spinrad TL, Eisenberg N. Longitudinal relations of preschoolers’ dispositional and situational anger to their prosocial behavior: The moderating role of shyness. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sonya Xinyue Xiao
- T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics Arizona State University Tempe Arizona
| | - Tracy L. Spinrad
- T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics Arizona State University Tempe Arizona
| | - Nancy Eisenberg
- Department of Psychology Arizona State University Tempe Arizona
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37
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Abramson L, Paz Y, Knafo-Noam A. From negative reactivity to empathic responding: Infants high in negative reactivity express more empathy later in development, with the help of regulation. Dev Sci 2018; 22:e12766. [PMID: 30339317 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2018] [Accepted: 10/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Empathy has great effect on human well-being, promoting healthy relationships and social competence. Although it is increasingly acknowledged that infants show empathy toward others, individual differences in infants' empathy from the first year of life have rarely been investigated longitudinally. Here we examined how negative reactivity and regulation, two temperament traits that predict empathic responses in older children and adults, relate to infants' empathy. Infants were studied at the ages of nine (N = 275) and 18 (N = 301) months (194 infants were studied at both ages). Empathic responses were assessed by infants' observed reactions to an experimenter's simulated distress. Negative reactivity (fear, sadness, and distress to limitations) and regulation (soothability and effortful control) were assessed by parental reports. Negative reactivity was also examined by infants' observed reactions to an adult stranger (fear) and during interaction with their mothers (displays of sadness/distress). When examined cross-sectionally, infants' fear and distress to limitations associated with self-distress in response to others' distress. In contrast, when examined longitudinally, early sadness and distress to limitations, but not fear, associated with later empathic concern and inquisitiveness. Moreover, this longitudinal relation was moderated by infants' soothability and was evident only for children that had high soothability by the later time-point. Our findings suggest that infants who at an earlier age show negative reactivity, react later in development with more empathy if they achieve sufficient regulation abilities. By that, the findings stress the developmental nature of temperament-empathy relations during infancy.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yael Paz
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
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38
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Kienbaum J, Zorzi M, Kunina-Habenicht O. The development of interindividual differences in sympathy: The role of child personality and adults’ responsiveness to distress. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jutta Kienbaum
- Institute of Psychology; Paedagogische Hochschule Karlsruhe; Karlsruhe Germany
| | - Miriam Zorzi
- Institute of Psychology; Paedagogische Hochschule Karlsruhe; Karlsruhe Germany
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39
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Balkaya M, Cheah CSL, Yu J, Hart CH, Sun S. Maternal Encouragement of Modest Behavior, Temperamental Shyness, and Anxious Withdrawal Linkages to Chinese American Children's Social Adjustment: A Moderated Mediation Analysis. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2018; 27:876-890. [PMID: 32201457 PMCID: PMC7083586 DOI: 10.1111/sode.12295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2017] [Accepted: 03/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Past studies have revealed potential differences in the functional meaning and social evaluation of children's temperamental shyness between Chinese interdependence-oriented and North American independence-oriented cultural contexts. However, very little is known about shy Chinese American children's adjustment in Western school contexts and potential pathways underlying their adjustment. To address this gap in the literature, we examined the associations between Chinese American children's temperamental shyness and their social adjustment outcomes, including peer exclusion, prosocial behavior, and assertiveness/leadership skills. In addition, the mediating role of children's display of anxious-withdrawn behavior and the moderating role of first-generation Chinese immigrant mothers' encouragement of modesty in their parenting practices as applied to associations between temperamental shyness and social adjustment outcomes were explored. Path analyses indicated that the impact of Chinese American children's temperamental shyness on their socio-emotional adjustment was mediated by their display of anxious-withdrawn behavior in school. However, when Chinese immigrant mothers encouraged their children to be more modest, children's temperamental shyness was less strongly related to negative social adjustment outcomes through diminished anxious-withdrawn behavior. These results highlighted the importance of culturally-emphasized parenting practices in fostering Chinese American children's adjustment in the U.S.
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Affiliation(s)
- Merve Balkaya
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250
| | - Charissa S L Cheah
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250
| | - Jing Yu
- Eunice Kennedy Shiver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 6705 Rockledge Dr., Bethesda, MD 20892
| | - Craig H Hart
- Brigham Young University, 155 East 1230 North, Provo, UT 84602
| | - Shuyan Sun
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250
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40
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Guo Q, Sun P, Li L. Shyness and online prosocial behavior: A study on multiple mediation mechanisms. COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2018.04.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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41
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Grady JS, Hastings PD. Becoming prosocial peers: The roles of temperamental shyness and mothers’ and fathers’ elaborative emotion language. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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42
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Abraham E, Raz G, Zagoory-Sharon O, Feldman R. Empathy networks in the parental brain and their long-term effects on children's stress reactivity and behavior adaptation. Neuropsychologia 2018; 116:75-85. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.04.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2017] [Revised: 04/05/2017] [Accepted: 04/08/2017] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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43
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Dowd AC, Martinez K, Davidson BC, Hixon JG, Neal-Beevers AR. Response to Distress Varies by Social Impairment and Familiarity in Infants at Risk for Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 2018; 48:3885-3898. [PMID: 29931435 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3653-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Early impaired response to social partners' distress may negatively impact subsequent social development. Identifying factors contributing to successful responding may inform assessment and intervention. This study explores how: (1) social impairment, and (2) partner familiarity relate to response to partners' distress. Infants with and without older siblings with ASD were assessed at 12 (n = 29) and 15 (n = 35) months for social impairment markers, and responses to mother and experimenter each feigning distress. Infants with more social impairment showed less attention and affect at 15, but not 12 months. Infants attended more to the unfamiliar person, but exhibited greater affect toward the familiar person at 12 months. Results revealed social impairment and familiarity were separately related to infant response to partners' distress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra C Dowd
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 305 E. 23rd St., Stop E9000, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
| | - Kassandra Martinez
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 305 E. 23rd St., Stop E9000, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Bridget C Davidson
- Department of Pediatrics, Mailman Center for Child Development, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, 1601 NW 12 Ave, Suite 4058, Miami, FL, 33136, USA
| | - J Gregory Hixon
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E. Dean Keaton, Stop A8000, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - A Rebecca Neal-Beevers
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 305 E. 23rd St., Stop E9000, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
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Susa Erdogan G, Benga O, Marină C. Attentional Orientation Patterns toward Emotional Faces and Temperamental Correlates of Preschool Oppositional Defiant Problems: The Moderating Role of Callous-Unemotional Traits and Anxiety Symptoms. Front Psychol 2017; 8:1928. [PMID: 29163303 PMCID: PMC5681953 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2017] [Accepted: 10/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study examined the independent contributions and the interaction effects of oppositional defiant problems (ODD), callous unemotional traits (CU) and anxiety symptoms on attentional orienting to emotional faces, in a community sample of preschoolers. Additionally, based on Rothbart's (2007) model of temperament, we analyzed whether fine-grained dimensions of reactivity (fear, anger, discomfort, sadness, activity level, approach, high intensity pleasure, impulsivity) and self-regulation (attentional shifting, attentional focusing, inhibitory control), as well as the higher order temperamental factors of negative affectivity, surgency and effortful control are associated with CU traits and ODD-related problems. Attentional orienting to emotional faces was assessed with pictorial Dot-probe task, while teachers rated CU traits and ODD-related problems. Also, parents reported on ODD-related problems, anxiety and temperament. Results indicated significant interaction effects between ODD-related problems and CU, as well as between CU and anxiety, in predicting attentional orientation patterns for angry, fearful and happy faces. Moreover, temperamental reactivity was positively associated with CU traits and ODD-related problems, whereas temperamental self-regulation was negatively related to CU traits and ODD-related problems. Results of this study have implications for early intervention and prevention approaches targeting preschool oppositional defiant problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgiana Susa Erdogan
- Developmental Psychology Lab, Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Oana Benga
- Developmental Psychology Lab, Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Crina Marină
- Developmental Psychology Lab, Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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Eisenberg N, Spinrad TL, Taylor ZE, Liew J. Relations of Inhibition and Emotion‐Related Parenting to Young Children's Prosocial and Vicariously Induced Distress Behavior. Child Dev 2017; 90:846-858. [DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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46
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McDonald NM, Murphy HG, Messinger DS. Empathic responding in preschool-aged children with familial risk for autism. Autism Res 2017; 10:1621-1628. [PMID: 28608419 DOI: 10.1002/aur.1819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2016] [Revised: 03/10/2017] [Accepted: 05/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show deficits in social and emotional reciprocity, which often include empathic responding. The younger siblings of children with ASD (high-risk siblings) are at elevated risk for ASD and for subclinical deficits in social-emotional functioning. Higher levels of empathy in high-risk siblings during the second and third years of life predict fewer ASD symptoms and likelihood of diagnosis. We conducted a multi-method investigation of empathic responding to an examiner's accident in 30 low-risk and 48 high-risk siblings with (n = 12) and without ASD outcomes (n = 36) at 4-6 years of age. Empathic responding was measured through behavioral observation and parent report. Prosocial behavior did not differ by ASD outcome. Children with ASD exhibited lower levels of personal distress than high-risk and low-risk siblings without ASD. Per parent report, high-risk siblings without ASD demonstrated higher levels of empathic responding than low-risk children, while the ASD group did not differ from children without ASD on this measure. Higher levels of observed empathic concern, but not prosocial behavior, were associated with lower Social Affect scores on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule in high-risk children. Results suggest that ASD diagnosis and symptoms are associated with reduced emotional responsiveness to an adult's distress, but not associated with deficits in prosocial behavior at preschool age. Results do not support the idea that empathic responding is negatively impacted in a broader autism phenotype. Findings extend previous research by suggesting that empathy may be a protective factor in the social-emotional development of children with familial risk for ASD. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1621-1628. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole M McDonald
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Haley G Murphy
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, 24061
| | - Daniel S Messinger
- Departments of Psychology, Pediatrics, Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Music Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, 33146
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47
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Schuhmacher N, Collard J, Kärtner J. The Differential role of parenting, peers, and temperament for explaining interindividual differences in 18-months-olds’ comforting and helping. Infant Behav Dev 2017; 46:124-134. [DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2017.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2016] [Revised: 01/13/2017] [Accepted: 01/13/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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48
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Affective startle potentiation differentiates primary and secondary variants of juvenile psychopathy. Dev Psychopathol 2016; 29:1149-1160. [DOI: 10.1017/s0954579416001206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
AbstractIndividuals with psychopathic traits show an attenuated emotional response to aversive stimuli. However, recent evidence suggests heterogeneity in emotional reactivity among individuals with psychopathic or callous–unemotional (CU) traits in the identification of primary and secondary subtypes, or variants. We hypothesized that primary CU variants will respond with blunted affect to negatively valenced stimuli, whereas individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment, fitting with theoretical conceptualizations of secondary psychopathy, will display heightened emotional reactivity. To test this hypothesis, we examined fear-potentiated startle between CU variants while viewing aversive, pleasant, and neutral scenes. Two hundred thirty-eight incarcerated adolescent (M age = 16.8 years, SD = 1.11 years) boys completed a picture-startle paradigm and self-report questionnaires assessing CU traits, aggressive behavior, and maltreatment. Latent profile analysis of CU trait, aggression, and maltreatment scores identified four classes: primary psychopathy variants (high CU traits, high aggression, low maltreatment; n = 46), secondary psychopathy variants (high CU traits, high aggression, high maltreatment; n = 42), and two nonpsychopathic groups differentiated on maltreatment experience (n = 148). Primary CU variants displayed reduced startle potentiation to aversive images relative to control, maltreated, and also secondary variants that exhibited greater startle modulation. Findings add to a rapidly growing body of literature supporting the possibility of multiple developmental pathways to psychopathic traits (i.e., equifinality), and extend it by finding support for divergent potential biomarkers between primary and secondary CU variants.
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49
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Callous-unemotional behaviors in early childhood: Genetic and environmental contributions to stability and change. Dev Psychopathol 2016; 29:1227-1234. [PMID: 27976598 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579416001267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors demonstrate meaningful individual differences in early childhood, even in nonclinical samples with low mean levels of CU, but the factors underlying this variation have not been examined. This study investigated genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences and to sources of continuity and change in CU in toddler twins (145 monozygotic, 169 dizygotic) assessed at ages 2 and 3 years. CU, as assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5 (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000), was moderately stable across age (r = .45, p < .0001). Longitudinal biometric analyses revealed genetic and nonshared environmental influences on CU at both ages, with no significant contribution from shared environmental factors. Stability from age 2 to 3 was due to genetic factors, whereas change was due to both genetic and nonshared environmental influences. This genetic and nonshared environmental change was substantial, suggesting malleability of CU in early childhood. Over 50% of the genetic influences and 100% of the nonshared environmental influences on CU at age 3 were independent of those that operated at age 2. Implications of novel sources of variance across age are discussed.
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50
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Kienbaum J, Volland C, Ulich D. Sympathy in the context of mother-child and teacher-child relationships. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/01650250143000076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Two studies were carried out to investigate relations between socialisation influences, person variables, and sympathy, as well as prosocial behaviour in 5-year-old preschool children. Specifically, we were interested in the interactions between child characteristics (sex, inhibition toward strangers) and the socialisation practices of child care teachers (Study I) and mothers’ caregiving style (Study II). Participants in Study I were 105 five-year-old children who were confronted with the simulated distress of a puppet; 25 teachers were observed while interacting with the children during free play, and 93 parents rated their child’s inhibition. Participants in Study II were 79 five-year-old children and their mothers. As in Study I, the children’s reactions to distress were observed. The mothers rated their child’s inhibition and participated in an interview to assess the quality of their caregiving style. Positive, albeit weak, relations occurred between child care teachers’ warmth and children’s sympathetic-prosocial reactions to distress; no direct effects emerged for maternal behaviour. Negative, albeit weak, associations were found between inhibition and sympathetic-prosocial reactions. These relations improved when interactions between sex, inhibition, and the caregiving style of the teachers (but not of the mothers) were taken into account. The results are discussed with regard to the context-specificity of socialisation.
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