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Borelli JL, Hong K, Kazmierski KFM, Smiley PA, Sohn L, Guo Y. Parents' depressive symptoms and reflective functioning predict parents' proficiency in relational savoring and children's physiological regulation. Dev Psychopathol 2024; 36:121-134. [PMID: 36239047 DOI: 10.1017/s095457942200102x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
This study examined parental depression and parental reflective functioning (PRF) as predictors of parental proficiency in relational savoring (RS), the association between RS proficiency and a marker of children's physiological self-regulation, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), during a stressor, and indirect effects of parental depression and PRF on children's RSA via parents' RS. At Time 1 (T1), parents of 8- to 12-year-old children (N = 139) reported on their depressive symptoms and completed a parenting interview, coded for PRF. After 1.5 years (Time 2; T2), parents savored a positive relational memory that involved their children, which was coded for savoring proficiency. Children's RSA was measured during a stressful task (a series of impossible puzzles). Depressive symptoms (inversely) and PRF (positively) were associated with RS proficiency. Higher parental RS proficiency was associated with children's higher mean levels of RSA during the stressor. Indirect effects models supported that T2 RS proficiency mediated the negative association between parental T1 depressive symptoms and children's T2 RSA, and between T1 PRF and children's T2 RSA. We discuss these findings in terms of implications for parents' emotion regulation, children's emotion regulation, children's mental health, and intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica L Borelli
- University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
- Pomona College, Claremont, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Lucas Sohn
- University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Yuqing Guo
- University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
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Anikiej-Wiczenbach P, Kaźmierczak M, Czerwiński S. Exploring the key drivers of responsive parenting in mothers and fathers - observed and self-reported responsiveness. HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY REPORT 2024; 12:39-52. [PMID: 38425885 PMCID: PMC10900979 DOI: 10.5114/hpr/181511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND This article explores parental responsiveness - the ability of a parent to react to a child's needs adequately, promptly, and with tenderness and synchrony. Parental responsiveness can be measured using observational and self-report scales. The purpose of this study was to explore whether individual differences in empathy and attachment in mothers and fathers and their satisfaction with their relationship are predictors of parental responsiveness toward infants. Moreover, self-report and observational measures of parental responsiveness were compared. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE A total of 110 triads (mother, father, and child aged 6-10 months) took part in the free play procedure and parents' behaviors towards their children were assessed using the Ainsworth Sensitivity Scale. Moreover, they filled out a set of questionnaires measuring parental self-reported responsiveness, empathy, experiences in close relationships and romantic relationship satisfaction. RESULTS Higher empathic concern was connected with higher responsiveness and this was seen in both individual and partner measures. At the individual level, measures of responsiveness (self-report and observational) were not congruent and probably depended on other variables. In couples, there were positive correlations in three aspects of their family functioning: observed and self-reported parental responsiveness as well as relationship satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS This study revealed differences between self-reported and observational measures of parental responsiveness, indicating that their results may not always be congruent and could depend on other variables.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Maria Kaźmierczak
- Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Stanisław Czerwiński
- Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
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Wang Q, Lin Y, Teuber Z, Li F, Su Y. Parental Burnout and Prosocial Behavior among Chinese Adolescents: The Role of Empathy. Behav Sci (Basel) 2023; 14:17. [PMID: 38247669 PMCID: PMC10812745 DOI: 10.3390/bs14010017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Parental burnout refers to exhaustion caused by the parenting role. This devastating negative emotion can have repercussions for adolescent social development. Nevertheless, much remains unclear about the association between parental burnout and adolescent prosocial behavior and the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship. Based on theoretical and empirical evidence, the current study examined the relationship between parental burnout and adolescent prosocial behavior by using a sequential mediation model that included both parental empathy and adolescent empathy as potential mediators. A total of 488 parent-adolescent dyads (for adolescents: 45.7% men, 54.3% women, Mage = 15.28 ± 1.67 years; for parents: 36.5% fathers, 63.5% mothers, Mage = 41.30 ± 3.79 years) completed questionnaires regarding demographics, social desirability, parental burnout, parental empathy, adolescent empathy, and adolescent prosocial behavior. After controlling for demographic covariates and social desirability, the results showed that parental burnout had a negative effect on adolescent-reported prosocial behavior through parental cognitive empathy and adolescent other-oriented empathy (adolescent cognitive empathy and empathic concern) sequentially. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of parental burnout as a family environmental factor detrimental to the positive functioning of adolescents through parental reactions to their children's emotions and children's own social competence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qichen Wang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, No. 5 Yiheyuan, Haidian, Beijing 100871, China; (Q.W.); (Y.L.); (F.L.)
| | - Yue Lin
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, No. 5 Yiheyuan, Haidian, Beijing 100871, China; (Q.W.); (Y.L.); (F.L.)
| | - Ziwen Teuber
- Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Universitaetsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Fangmin Li
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, No. 5 Yiheyuan, Haidian, Beijing 100871, China; (Q.W.); (Y.L.); (F.L.)
| | - Yanjie Su
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, No. 5 Yiheyuan, Haidian, Beijing 100871, China; (Q.W.); (Y.L.); (F.L.)
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Gorla L, Fusco C, Santona A. A Retrospective Study on Adoptive Parenthood in the First Year after the Adoption: The Role of Parents' Attachment and Empathy on Communicative Openness. Healthcare (Basel) 2023; 11:3128. [PMID: 38132018 PMCID: PMC10742674 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11243128] [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: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 12/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Communicative openness (CO) defines the willingness of parents and children to explore the significance of adoption. Especially in the first year of adoption, CO could be challenging for adoptive parents, who are influenced by personal characteristics. Using a retrospective assessment, we investigated parents' communicative experiences in the first year of adoption and whether these are affected by romantic attachment and empathy. In the study, 290 adoptive parents (females = 73%, mean age 50 years) filled (a) an ad hoc questionnaire for CO, (b) Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) for attachment, and the (c) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) for empathy. During the first year, most parents reported difficulties in controlling their emotions and understanding their children's emotions. Parents with an avoidant attachment and personal distress in empathy were more likely to feel fatigued in sharing and controlling personal feelings and understanding their children's feelings. Open adoption-related communication is a complex and challenging process for adoptive parents, which can be facilitated or not by individual characteristics such as avoidant attachment and personal distress in emotional situations. These results could help develop psychological interventions targeting adoptive parents during the first year after the child enters the family system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Gorla
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy; (C.F.); (A.S.)
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Rhodes CA, Wolchik SA, Uhlman RN, O'Hara KL, Sandler IN, Tein JY, Porter MM. Effects of a preventive parenting intervention for bereaved families on the intergenerational transmission of parenting attitudes: Mediating processes. Dev Psychopathol 2023; 35:2482-2498. [PMID: 37559382 PMCID: PMC10947508 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579423000925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
This study evaluated whether the Family Bereavement Program (FBP), a prevention program for parentally bereaved families, improved parenting attitudes toward parental warmth and physical punishment in young adult offspring 15 years after participation and identified mediational cascade pathways. One hundred fifty-six parents and their 244 offspring participated. Data were collected at pretest (ages 8-16), posttest, and six- and 15-year follow-ups. Ethnicity of offspring was: 67% non-Hispanic Caucasian, 16% Hispanic, 7% African American, 3% Native American, 1% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 6% other; 54% were males. There was a direct effect of the FBP on attitudes toward physical punishment; offspring in the FBP had less favorable attitudes toward physical punishment. There were also indirect effects of the FBP on parenting attitudes. The results supported a cascade effects model in which intervention-induced improvements in parental warmth led to fewer externalizing problems in adolescence/emerging adulthood, which in turn led to less favorable attitudes toward physical punishment. In addition, intervention-induced improvements in parental warmth led to improvements in anxious romantic attachment in mid-to-late adolescence/emerging adulthood, which led to more favorable attitudes toward parental warmth in emerging/young adulthood. These findings suggest that the effects of relatively brief prevention programs may persist into subsequent generations.
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Shalev I, Eran A, Uzefovsky F. Fluctuations and individual differences in empathy interact with stress to predict mental health, parenting, and relationship outcomes. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1237278. [PMID: 37928564 PMCID: PMC10621795 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1237278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Empathy is a complex, multifaceted ability allowing for the most basic forms of social communication and plays a prominent role in multiple aspects of everyday lives. In this intensive longitudinal study, we assessed how empathy interacts with stress to predict central domains of psychosocial functioning: mental health, romantic relationships, and parenting. Methods Fluctuations and individual differences in empathy were assessed across eight time points, where participants from the general population (N = 566) self-reported their empathy, stress, depressive symptoms, romantic satisfaction, and parental functioning. Results Both trait and state aspects of empathy were associated with all psychosocial outcomes, with state empathy showing a stronger effect. Additionally, empathy components interacted with stress-emotional empathy better-predicted outcomes under high stress, while cognitive empathy under low stress. Discussion Our findings advance the theoretical understanding of empathy, emphasizing the effects of state-dependent empathy fluctuations on our everyday mental and social lives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ido Shalev
- Department of Psychology, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Alal Eran
- Computational Health Informatics Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
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King GL, Kehoe CE, Havighurst SS, Youssef GJ, Macdonald JA, Dunsmore JC, Berkowitz TS, Westrupp EM. Creation of a Short-Form and Brief Short-Form Version of the Coping With Children's Negative Emotions Scale. Assessment 2023; 30:1947-1968. [PMID: 36317795 DOI: 10.1177/10731911221126919] [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: 07/22/2023]
Abstract
The Coping with Children's Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES) is a widely used measure of parent emotion socialization; however, it is a lengthy measure and it is unclear whether all items are appropriately aligned with, and fully capture, the underlying constructs. We aimed to examine content validity of the CCNES, evaluate the theoretical alignment between the CCNES and Gottman, Katz and Hooven's meta-emotion theory, and develop two short-forms. Participants were parents of children aged 4 to 10 years (N = 937) from the longitudinal study the Child and Parent Emotion Study (https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/10/e038124). Content experts qualitatively evaluated parent-report items of the CCNES and additional items that measured empathy. Nineteen of the 84 items were found to not align with the meta-emotion theory. The latent structures of the CCNES and empathy subscales were quantitatively evaluated via confirmatory factor analysis. Items with poor psychometric properties were subsequently removed. An 18-item short-form (three emotion coaching subscales, three emotion dismissing subscales) and 6-item brief short-form (one emotion coaching subscale, one emotion dismissing subscale) with strong psychometric properties were created using a calibration sample (n = 468, that is, 50% of N = 937) and cross-validated with a validation sample. The short-form CCNES measures provide viable, theoretically consistent alternatives to the original CCNES measure.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - George J Youssef
- Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jacqui A Macdonald
- Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | | | - Elizabeth M Westrupp
- Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
- La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Zhou Z, Chen YY, Yang B, Qu Y, Lee TH. Family Cohesion Moderates the Relation between Parent-Child Neural Connectivity Pattern Similarity and Youth's Emotional Adjustment. J Neurosci 2023; 43:5936-5943. [PMID: 37400252 PMCID: PMC10436682 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0349-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2023] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite a recent surge in research examining parent-child neural similarity using fMRI, there remains a need for further investigation into how such similarity may play a role in children's emotional adjustment. Moreover, no prior studies explored the potential contextual factors that may moderate the link between parent-child neural similarity and children's developmental outcomes. In this study, 32 parent-youth dyads (parents: M age = 43.53 years, 72% female; children: M age = 11.69 years, 41% female) watched an emotion-evoking animated film while being scanned using fMRI. We first quantified how similarly emotion network interacts with other brain regions in responding to the emotion-evoking film between parents and their children. We then examined how such parent-child neural similarity is associated with children's emotional adjustment, with attention to the moderating role of family cohesion. Results revealed that higher parent-child similarity in functional connectivity pattern during movie viewing was associated with better emotional adjustment, including less negative affect, lower anxiety, and greater ego resilience in youth. Moreover, such associations were significant only among families with higher cohesion, but not among families with lower cohesion. The findings advance our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying how children thrive by being in sync and attuned with their parents, and provide novel empirical evidence that the effects of parent-child concordance at the neural level on children's development are contextually dependent.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT What neural processes underlie the attunement between children and their parents that helps children thrive? Using a naturalistic movie-watching fMRI paradigm, we find that greater parent-child similarity in how emotion network interacts with other brain regions during movie viewing is associated with youth's better emotional adjustment including less negative affect, lower anxiety, and greater ego resilience. Interestingly, these associations are only significant among families with higher cohesion, but not among those with lower cohesion. Our findings provide novel evidence that parent-child shared neural processes to emotional situations can confer benefits to children, and underscore the importance of considering specific family contexts in which parent-child neural similarity may be beneficial or detrimental to children's development, highlighting a crucial direction for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zexi Zhou
- Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
| | - Ya-Yun Chen
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
| | - Beiming Yang
- School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208
| | - Yang Qu
- School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208
| | - Tae-Ho Lee
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
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King GL, Macdonald JA, Greenwood CJ, Kehoe C, Dunsmore JC, Havighurst SS, Youssef GJ, Berkowitz TS, Westrupp EM. Profiles of parents' emotion socialization within a multinational sample of parents. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1161418. [PMID: 37637929 PMCID: PMC10447894 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1161418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Seminal emotion socialization theories classify parents according to two patterns of parent emotion socialization processes: 'emotion coaching' (i.e., parents validate and teach children about emotions) versus 'emotion dismissing' parenting (i.e., parents minimize and dismiss their children's emotions). However, empirical evidence supporting this binary distinction of parents remains limited. Our objective was to investigate whether parents can be differentiated by distinct patterns in their (1) beliefs about children's emotions, (2) emotion regulation, and (3) emotion-related parenting practices. Method Participants were parents of children aged 4-10 years from the Child and Parent Emotion Study (N = 869) (https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/10/e038124). Parents completed self-reported measures of emotion socialization processes via an online survey, which took 20-30 min to complete. Data included in the current study were collected May-August 2019. We conducted a latent profile analysis of parents' emotion socialization (13 indicators). To assess reliability of the profiles, we examined stability of the profiles across (1) parents of children in early versus middle childhood, and (2) fathers versus mothers, via measurement invariance testing. Further, to assess for construct validity of the profiles, we examined concurrent associations between six criterion constructs and parents' emotion socialization profiles. Results A three-profile model emerged characterizing parents by: (1) emotion coaching; (2) emotion dismissing; (3) emotion disengaged. There was strong support for construct validity and reliability. Discussion Our study provides empirical support for distinct differentiated classifications of emotion coaching and emotion dismissing parenting, aligned with emotion socialization theories. We further extend on extant theory and suggest a third 'emotion disengaged' classification, describing parents with moderate levels of emotion dismissing parenting and low levels of emotion coaching parenting. It should be noted that the profiles were derived with self-report data, therefore, data may have been biased by contextual factors. Furthermore, the study sample consisted of Western families from affluent backgrounds. The field should focus efforts on conducting person-centered studies with more diverse samples in future.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jacqui A. Macdonald
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
- Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Christopher J. Greenwood
- Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Christiane Kehoe
- Mindful, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Julie C. Dunsmore
- Human Development and Family Sciences, Department of Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Sophie S. Havighurst
- Mindful, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - George J. Youssef
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Elizabeth M. Westrupp
- School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
- Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
- Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Odo VO, Ukeme WV, Nwanosike LC, Karatu BA, Urama SI, Nzenwaku JU. Moderating role of motivational preference in the relationship between attachment quality and emotional empathy among autistic caregivers. PSYCHOL HEALTH MED 2023; 28:867-875. [PMID: 34676797 DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2021.1990359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The study investigated the moderating role of motivational preference in the relationship between attachment quality and emotional empathy among sixty-five autistic caregivers (42 males and 23 females). Participants were drawn from Therapeutic Inclusive Nursery, Primary, and Secondary School in Abakpa Nike, Enugu State, Nigeria. Attachment Quality Scale, Work Preference Inventory Scale, and Emotional Empathy Scale were used in the study. Hayes PROCESS macro regression-based, path-analytical framework was employed to analyse the data. Motivational preference and the four dimensions of attachment quality predicted emotional empathy. Motivational preference did not moderate the relationship between security, avoidance and ambivalent worry dimensions of attachment quality and emotional empathy. Motivational preference moderated the relationship between ambivalent merger and emotional empathy (β = -.14, t = -3.15, p = <.05). Ambivalent merger predicted emotional empathy for those with low motivational preference (β = 7.22, p = <.05), moderate motivational preference (β = 3.07, p = < .05), and for those with high motivational preference (β = 1.01, p = <.05). Implications and limitations of the findings were discussed and suggestions for further studies were made.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor O Odo
- Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nsukka, Nigeria
| | - Willie V Ukeme
- Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nsukka, Nigeria
| | - Louisa C Nwanosike
- Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nsukka, Nigeria
| | - Baba A Karatu
- Department of Psychology, Federal University, Gashua, Gashua, Nigeria
| | - Sabina I Urama
- Department of Psychology, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria
| | - Joy U Nzenwaku
- Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nsukka, Nigeria
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Gross JT, Stern JA, Brett BE, Fitter MH, Cassidy J. Mothers' Attachment Style Predicts Response to Child Distress: The Role of Maternal Emotions and Attributions. JOURNAL OF CHILD AND FAMILY STUDIES 2023; 32:876-891. [PMID: 37859978 PMCID: PMC10586594 DOI: 10.1007/s10826-022-02517-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
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12
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Kadosh-Laor T, Israeli-Ran L, Shalev I, Uzefovsky F. Empathy and parenthood: The moderating role of maternal trait empathy on parental burnout. Br J Psychol 2023. [PMID: 36843557 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12640] [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: 08/03/2022] [Revised: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/28/2023]
Abstract
The ability to empathize with others enables us to effectively interact with each other and may have specifically evolved to support parental roles and caregiving. The relationship between parenting and trait empathy is little understood as previous research focused on empathy exclusively in the context of parenting, for example parental sensitivity. Here we aimed to understand how trait empathy may moderate the association between child's negative emotionality and parental burnout. Two cohorts were examined (1) parents of infants (10-18 months old; N = 203) and (2) parents of children (3-10 years old, N = 201). Parents filled out a battery of online questionnaires assessing maternal empathy, parental burnout and child temperament. We found that the relationship between higher levels of negative emotionality and parental burnout is moderated by specific aspects of maternal emotional empathy. Our findings suggest that maternal emotional empathy acts as a buffer against parental burnout when faced with a child's characteristics that incur higher parental demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamar Kadosh-Laor
- Psychology Department, Ben Gurion University in the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Liat Israeli-Ran
- Psychology Department, Ben Gurion University in the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Ido Shalev
- Psychology Department, Ben Gurion University in the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - Florina Uzefovsky
- Psychology Department, Ben Gurion University in the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.,Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben Gurion University in the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
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Cheng N, Ruan X, Wu Z, Yue X, Wang Z. The effect of maternal empathy on infants' attachment security: Moderation by maternal emotion regulation and infant temperament. Psych J 2023. [PMID: 36750399 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.631] [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: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
This study examined the relationship between maternal empathy and infants' attachment security and tested the moderating effects of maternal emotion regulation and infant negative emotional temperament. Participants were sampled from 215 families whose infants were 6 months old (T1) and from 170 families of the same cohort whose infants were 14 months old (T2). At T1, mothers were measured for their empathy (empathic concern and perspective taking), emotion regulation (reappraisal and suppression), and infant negative emotional temperament (sadness, falling reactivity, fear, and distress to limitations). At T2, mothers were again measured for their emotion regulation, and infant attachment was measured using the Strange Situation Procedure. Maternal empathic concern (EC) and perspective taking (PT) were found to be positively related to infant attachment security, while maternal reappraisal and infant temperamental sadness moderated the relationship between maternal PT and infant attachment security. No significant moderation effects were found between maternal EC and infant attachment security. Simple slope results showed that for infants with higher maternal reappraisal or infant sadness, maternal PT could positively predict infant attachment security. These findings highlight the importance of how the individual characteristics of mothers and infants may interact with maternal empathy during the critical period of infant attachment formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nanhua Cheng
- School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, Research Center for Child Development, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xingjian Ruan
- School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, Research Center for Child Development, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhijun Wu
- School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, Research Center for Child Development, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaodong Yue
- School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhengyan Wang
- School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition, Research Center for Child Development, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
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Woźniak-Prus M, Gambin M, Sękowski M, Cudo A, Pisula E, Kiepura-Nawrocka E, Boruszak-Kiziukiewicz J, Kmita G. Positive experiences in the parent-child relationship during the COVID-19 lockdown in Poland: The role of emotion regulation, empathy, parenting self-efficacy, and social support. FAMILY PROCESS 2023:e12856. [PMID: 36724769 DOI: 10.1111/famp.12856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2021] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Despite the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak being largely negative on parents and children, for some families, lockdown could also bring about some positive effects, for example, increased emotional closeness, and more time for joint activity. The aim of the current study was to investigate cross-sectionally the most important correlates of the positive experiences in the parent-child relationship among Polish mothers and fathers during the lockdown in the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak. In May 2020, 228 mothers and 231 fathers completed the Brief version of the Empathic Sensitivity Questionnaire, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Short Form, Social Support Scale, Parenting Self-Agency Measure, and Scale of Positive Experiences in Parent-Child Relationship during the COVID-19 lockdown. Our results showed that parenting self-efficacy and social support were the strongest correlates of positive experiences in the parent-child relationship in both mothers and fathers during the lockdown. Perspective-taking was positively related to the positive experiences in mothers, whereas personal distress was positively associated with the positive experiences in the parent-child relationship in fathers. Our results point to factors of potential importance in designing preventive and therapeutic interventions for mothers and fathers to enhance positive experiences in the parent-child relationship during the pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Marcin Sękowski
- Institute of Psychology, The Maria Grzegorzewska University, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Andrzej Cudo
- Institute of Psychology, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
| | - Ewa Pisula
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | | | - Grażyna Kmita
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
- Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland
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15
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Mullins JL, Zhou E, Michalska KJ. How Parental Support Affects Latina Girls During the COVID-19 Pandemic. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2023. [DOI: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
Abstract. The current study focuses on a sample of low- to middle-income school-age Latina girls and their parents and examines how children’s distress proneness interacts with parental empathic accuracy and posttraumatic growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to predict children’s empathy and prosocial behavior toward unknown others. Approximately 2–3 months into state-mandated stay-at-home orders, 55 parent–daughter dyads were recruited to participate in this four-session longitudinal study. To assess distress proneness, daughters (ages 8–13 years, 100% Latina) identified their degree of distress in response to pandemic-related stressors. Concurrently, their parents reported how they thought their children would respond to these same pandemic-related stressors, which assessed parental empathic accuracy. Parents also completed an adapted version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, which assessed perceived positive outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon study completion, a behavioral measure of children’s empathic and prosocial behaviors was collected. Parental empathic accuracy interacted with children’s distress proneness to positively predict children’s affective empathy, such that children’s distress proneness predicted affective empathy at high and mean, but not low, levels of parental empathic accuracy. In a separate analysis, parental posttraumatic growth interacted with children’s distress proneness to positively predict children’s altruistic sharing behavior, such that children’s distress proneness predicted altruistic sharing behavior only at high, but not mean or low, levels of parental posttraumatic growth. The results of this study highlight how positive parental socialization and understanding of children’s tendencies toward distress are associated with children’s empathic and prosocial behaviors, particularly during major global crises.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan L. Mullins
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Elayne Zhou
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
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16
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Gonzalez S, Rodriguez CM. Psychosocial Resources Predicting Maternal and Paternal Positive Parenting and Lower Child Abuse Risk. PREVENTION SCIENCE : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR PREVENTION RESEARCH 2023; 24:186-197. [PMID: 36690868 PMCID: PMC10331505 DOI: 10.1007/s11121-022-01483-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Young children have the highest victimization rates of physical abuse in their first year of life, making up nearly half of all child abuse-related fatalities. More effective prevention is needed to reduce child victimization, yet many risk reduction models rely on problematic inclusion criteria, only intervene after maltreatment has occurred, or focus only on mothers. More proactive prevention models that promote positive parenting practices early in the transition to parenthood could be key to reducing child maltreatment. The current study sought to assess how both mothers' and fathers' psychosocial resources (e.g., emotion regulation, coping, and social support) and empathy can predict positive parenting and predict lower child abuse risk across time in a cross-lagged model. Parenting and abuse risk were examined prenatally, through the transition into parenthood, until children were 4 years old. First time mothers and their partners were recruited in the third trimester of pregnancy and assessed again when children were 6 months, 18 months, and 4 years old. Separate path models for mothers and fathers analyzed whether psychosocial resources and empathy at earlier timepoints predicted their positive parenting and lower abuse risk by the time children were age 4. Findings demonstrated that mothers' earlier empathy predicted later positive parenting and earlier positive parenting predicted later empathy. Fathers' lower prenatal abuse risk predicted greater subsequent empathy. Both mothers' and fathers' psychosocial resources and empathy at earlier timepoints predicted later positive parenting. Parents' psychosocial resources can be integral assets in positive, effective parenting approaches both concurrently and longitudinally. Mothers' and fathers' resources are an important point of intervention prior to and during the transition into parenthood to support healthier families that would confer benefits to child functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christina M Rodriguez
- Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, 250 Mills Godwin Life Sciences Building, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA.
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17
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An D, Bendel‐Stenzel LC, Kochanska G. Negative internal working models as mechanisms that link mothers' and fathers' personality with their parenting: A short-term longitudinal study. J Pers 2022; 90:1004-1020. [PMID: 35211984 PMCID: PMC9402795 DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Research on associations between parents' personality and parenting has a long history, but mechanisms that explain them remain unsettled. We examined parents' explicit and implicit negative internal working models (IWMs) of the child, assessed at toddler age, as linking parental personality and parenting. METHOD Mothers and fathers from 200 community families provided personality self-reports (Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Empathy, and Anger/Hostility) when their children were infants. When children were toddlers, the explicit negative IWMs included self-reported low-mentalizing reflective functioning and resentment regarding the child. The implicit negative IWMs were coded as negative relational schemas from parental interviews. Parental positive affect, responsiveness, and power-assertive control were observed in lengthy interactions. Measures were parallel for mother- and father-child dyads. RESULTS Mothers' implicit IWMs linked the association between low Empathy and more power-assertive control. Fathers' explicit IWMs linked the associations between high Neuroticism and low Agreeableness and lower responsiveness. Additionally, fathers' Agreeableness and Empathy directly predicted their parenting. Two paths (Agreeableness → implicit IWMs, and explicit IWMs → responsiveness) significantly differed between mothers and fathers. CONCLUSIONS IWMs may link parental personality with parenting. The findings integrate and inform several bodies of literature in personality, social cognition, and developmental psychology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danming An
- Department of Psychological and Brain SciencesThe University of IowaIowa CityIowaUSA
| | | | - Grazyna Kochanska
- Department of Psychological and Brain SciencesThe University of IowaIowa CityIowaUSA
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18
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Ojha A, Miller JG, King LS, Davis EG, Humphreys KL, Gotlib IH. Empathy for others versus for one's child: Associations with mothers' brain activation during a social cognitive task and with their toddlers' functioning. Dev Psychobiol 2022; 64:e22313. [PMID: 36282757 PMCID: PMC9608359 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2021] [Revised: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Caregivers who are higher in dispositional empathy tend to have children with better developmental outcomes; however, few studies have considered the role of child-directed (i.e., "parental") empathy, which may be relevant for the caregiver-child relationship. We hypothesized that mothers' parental empathy during their child's infancy will be a stronger predictor of their child's social-emotional functioning as a toddler than will mothers' dispositional empathy. We further explored whether parental and dispositional empathy have shared or distinct patterns of neural activation during a social-cognitive movie-watching task. In 118 mother-infant dyads, greater parental empathy assessed when infants were 6 months old was associated with more social-emotional competencies and fewer problems in the children 1 year later, even after adjusting for dispositional empathy. In contrast, dispositional empathy was not associated with child functioning when controlling for parental empathy. In a subset of 20 mothers, insula activation was positively associated with specific facets of both dispositional and parental empathy, whereas right temporoparietal junction activation was associated only with parental empathy. Thus, dispositional and parental empathy appear to be dissociable by both brain and behavioral metrics. Parental empathy may be a viable target for interventions, especially for toddlers at risk for developing social-emotional difficulties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amar Ojha
- Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, PA
- Center for Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, PA
| | | | - Lucy S. King
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
| | - Elena G. Davis
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
| | - Kathryn L. Humphreys
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
| | - Ian H. Gotlib
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
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19
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Hayes K, Turner LA. Help From a Friend: Helicopter Parenting Predicts Empathy and Bystander Intervention. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2022; 37:NP18550-NP18567. [PMID: 34372706 DOI: 10.1177/08862605211035887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Harassment toward others happens in many contexts with a myriad of negative impacts on victims, witnesses, and society. Although preventing harassment of others is ideal, it is also important to consider how bystanders may react in ways to defend the victim and reduce the harassment. Bystanders differ in their reactions to these events and the goal of this investigation is to better understand individual differences in college students' reported tendency to defend victims of harassment. We proposed a mediation model where higher rates of helicopter parenting would predict lower empathic concern and greater personal distress. In turn, lower empathic concern and greater personal distress would predict lower likelihood of defending the victim. College students (n = 305) completed self-report measures of helicopter parenting, empathic concern, personal distress, and bystander intervention to general harassment. Using the Hayes PROCESS program, we found the relation of helicopter parenting to bystander intervention was mediated by empathic concern, such that helicopter parenting predicted lower empathic concern, which predicted lower likelihood of intervening. Helicopter parenting predicted greater personal distress, but personal distress did not predict bystander intervention. In an exploratory analysis, we tested a moderated mediation model in which personal distress moderated the relation of empathic concern to bystander intervention. The moderated mediation model was statistically significant; for students with low to moderate personal distress, empathic concern predicted self-reported intervention. However, for students high in personal distress, empathic concern was not related to self-reported intervention. The current study explained a small amount of the variance in bystander intervention. These findings demonstrate the complex family and personal factors that may explain, to a small degree, individual differences in bystander intervention. Further studies should consider the complex contextual variables that may influence this relationship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katey Hayes
- University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA
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20
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Donithen R, Schoppe-Sullivan S. Correlates and predictors of parenting self-efficacy in new fathers. JOURNAL OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY : JFP : JOURNAL OF THE DIVISION OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (DIVISION 43) 2022; 36:396-405. [PMID: 34398623 PMCID: PMC8847545 DOI: 10.1037/fam0000910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Parenting self-efficacy is a critical determinant of high-quality parenting behavior, but this aspect of parenting cognitions has been understudied for fathers. Longitudinal data from a sample of 182 fathers of firstborn infants in dual-earner families were used to assess how expectant fathers' rearing history, personality and personal characteristics, and family relationships were associated with their initial levels of parenting self-efficacy in the early postpartum period. Expectant fathers completed surveys assessing their rearing history, personality, and personal characteristics during the third trimester of pregnancy and reported on their perceptions of coparenting and parenting self-efficacy at three months postpartum. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that new fathers were at risk for lower parenting self-efficacy when they had greater attachment anxiety and neuroticism, believed that mothers are inherently better caretakers, and planned to use their own fathers as models for childrearing. In contrast, new fathers had greater parenting self-efficacy when they perceived their coparenting relationships with children's mothers more positively. These findings inform theory about the development of fathers' parenting cognitions and behavior and practice with expectant and new fathers, and, if replicated in a larger, more representative sample, may be used to identify expectant fathers at risk for low parenting self-efficacy and in the design of policy initiatives to enhance father-child relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Reed Donithen
- Children and Parents Lab, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University
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21
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A Mindful Parenting Program for Parents Concerned About Child Internalizing Problems: a Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study. Mindfulness (N Y) 2022; 13:430-448. [PMID: 35069922 PMCID: PMC8760132 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-021-01805-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/04/2021] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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22
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Plank IS, Hindi Attar C, Kunas SL, Dziobek I, Bermpohl F. Increased activation in the bilateral anterior insulae in response to others in pain in mothers compared to non-mothers. Sci Rep 2021; 11:22757. [PMID: 34815443 PMCID: PMC8610985 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02162-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Empathy allows us to share emotions and encourages us to help others. It is especially important in the context of parenting where children's wellbeing is dependent on their parents' understanding and fulfilment of their needs. To date, little is known about differences in empathy responses of parents and non-parents. Using stimuli depicting adults and children in pain, this study focuses on the interaction of motherhood and neural responses in areas associated with empathy. Mothers showed higher activation to both adults and children in pain in the bilateral anterior insulae, key regions of empathy for pain. Additionally, mothers more strongly activated the inferior frontal, superior temporal and the medial superior frontal gyrus. Differences between adult and child stimuli were only found in occipital areas in both mothers and non-mothers. Our results suggest a stronger neural response to others in pain in mothers than non-mothers regardless of whether the person is a child or an adult. This could indicate a possible influence of motherhood on overall neural responses to others in pain rather than motherhood specifically shaping child-related responses. Alternatively, stronger responses to others in pain could increase the likelihood for women to be in a relationship and subsequently to have a child.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Sophia Plank
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences | CCM, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Catherine Hindi Attar
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences | CCM, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefanie L Kunas
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences | CCM, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Isabel Dziobek
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Felix Bermpohl
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences | CCM, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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23
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Development and psychometric characteristics of analog measures of parental empathy. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0259522. [PMID: 34735530 PMCID: PMC8568170 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite substantial literature on the effect of empathy on parenting, empathy research has historically suffered from definitional and methodological limitations. Parental empathy can be characterized as parents’ ability to recognize, take the perspective of, and appropriately react to children’s emotions. Current parental empathy assessment largely relies on self-report measures of dispositional empathy, but many argue parental empathy is distinct from dispositional empathy. Despite efforts to measure parental empathy implicitly, such analog approaches are labor intensive. The current report describes the preliminary development of the Empathy Measure for Parents Analog Task (EMPAT), two novel analog measures of parental empathy: one EMPAT analog uses audio stimuli and a second version uses written evocative scripts. After piloting with a sample of undergraduate students (Study 1), the measures were then administered to a sample of 212 parents (Study 2). For each study, the accuracy of the audio and script stimuli were first confirmed by examination of frequency distributions, then exploratory factor analyses were conducted to determine factor structure for each emotion subscale (i.e., Happy, Mad, Sad, Scared), and finally the composition of each emotion subscale was confirmed with scale reliability analyses. Correlations between each EMPAT version and measures of dispositional empathy, parental empathy, and positive parenting indicators were examined to assess the initial validity of the EMPAT measures. The new analog tasks demonstrated good reliability as well as preliminary evidence of validity, with potential utility in assessing cognitive elements of empathy in particular. With continued efforts to examine measure validity, the implications of these studies suggest the EMPAT tasks show promise in providing improved implicit, efficient assessments of child-directed empathy, which may be important for understanding positive and problematic parenting.
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Herrero-Roldán S, Rodrigo MJ, Hernández-Cabrera JA, Mitchell C, López M, Alcoba-Florez J, Fisher J, Espinosa F, León I. Reduction in Epigenetic Age Acceleration Is Related to Empathy in Mothers with Neglectful Caregiving. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11111376. [PMID: 34827375 PMCID: PMC8615407 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11111376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Revised: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation clocks are used as molecular estimators of epigenetic age, but with little evidence in mothers and none in neglectful mothering. We investigated differences in epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) and the role of empathy using the PhenoAge clock. We collected saliva samples from mothers with extreme disregard for their child's needs (50 in the neglect group, NG) and mothers with non-neglectful caregiving (87 in the control group, CG). Mothers completed an empathy scale, along with questionnaires of their own childhood maltreatment, adverse life events and psychiatric disorders. Sociodemographic variables potentially affecting EAA were also measured. The ANCOVA solution showed a significant increase in EAA in the NG compared to the CG, after adjustment for maternal age, number of pregnancies, financial assistance, adverse events, childhood maltreatment and psychiatric disorder. The group interaction effects showed a reduction in EAA for greater empathic concern and for a higher education level both as positive factors, and an increment in EAA for mothers living in a two-parent family as a risk factor, all in the NG. Our findings open the search for protective factors of EAA associated with caregiver behavior to reduce health vulnerabilities and poor social functioning, especially for mothers at risk of maladaptive caregiving.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Herrero-Roldán
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain; (S.H.-R.); (M.J.R.); (J.A.H.-C.); (F.E.)
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
| | - María José Rodrigo
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain; (S.H.-R.); (M.J.R.); (J.A.H.-C.); (F.E.)
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
| | - Juan A. Hernández-Cabrera
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain; (S.H.-R.); (M.J.R.); (J.A.H.-C.); (F.E.)
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
| | - Colter Mitchell
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (C.M.); (J.F.)
- Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Maykel López
- A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, 70211 Kuopio, Finland;
| | - Julia Alcoba-Florez
- Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario N. S. de Candelaria, 38010 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain;
| | - Jonah Fisher
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; (C.M.); (J.F.)
| | - Fernanda Espinosa
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain; (S.H.-R.); (M.J.R.); (J.A.H.-C.); (F.E.)
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
| | - Inmaculada León
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain; (S.H.-R.); (M.J.R.); (J.A.H.-C.); (F.E.)
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +34-9223-17506
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25
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Yamaoka Y, Hosozawa M, Sampei M, Sawada N, Okubo Y, Tanaka K, Yamaguchi A, Hangai M, Morisaki N. Abusive and positive parenting behavior in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic under the state of emergency. CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 2021; 120:105212. [PMID: 34298262 PMCID: PMC8609455 DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2021] [Revised: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/11/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the lives of children and parents, raising concerns about child maltreatment. OBJECTIVE We examined the prevalence of abusive parenting behavior during the pandemic of the COVID-19 and its relations with physical, psychological, and social factors and positive parenting behavior. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING An online survey was performed during the COVID-19 state of emergency in Japan. Participants were 5344 parents of children aged 0-17 years. METHODS We conducted an anonymous online survey using multiple platforms, including websites of child-related organizations and social networking services (SNS). Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with abusive behavior. RESULTS One-fifth of parents reported abusive behaviors, whereas over 80% of parents reported positive parenting behaviors (e.g., empathizing with a child). Abusive parenting behaviors were associated with longer screen time (6+ hours per day: OR, 1.44; 95%CI, 1.05-1.98), poor maternal mental health (K6 = 13+: OR, 2.23; 95%CI, 1.71-2.89), and the occurrence of domestic violence (OR, 4.54; 95%CI, 3.47-5.95). Positive parenting behaviors, especially showing empathy, were associated with lower risks of abusive behaviors (OR, 0.51: 95%CI, 0.39-0.66). CONCLUSIONS Positive parenting behavior is essential to the prevention of child maltreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yui Yamaoka
- Department of Global Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
| | - Mariko Hosozawa
- Bureau of International Health Cooperation, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Pediatrics, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Makiko Sampei
- Department of Social Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Naomi Sawada
- Department of Social Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Health Communication, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yusuke Okubo
- Department of Social Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, CA, USA
| | - Kyoko Tanaka
- Department of Psychosocial Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Arisa Yamaguchi
- Department of Psychosocial Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Mayumi Hangai
- Department of Social Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Pediatrics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Naho Morisaki
- Department of Social Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan
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Bi S, Keller PS. Parental Empathy, Aggressive Parenting, and Child Adjustment in a Noncustodial High-Risk Sample. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2021; 36:NP10371-NP10392. [PMID: 31422750 DOI: 10.1177/0886260519870165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
This study examined the relations between parental empathy, parenting physical aggression, parental psychological control, and child adjustment in a sample of parents who had their children removed from their custody because of child abuse or neglect. Twenty parents between 24 and 40 years of age (M = 31.15, SD = 4.85; 85% female) with a child aged between 1.5 and 16 years (M = 6.5, SD = 3.88; 70% boys) participated in the study. Our sample was comprised of relatively racially diverse and low-income parents, with 40% from racial minority groups and 70% below the poverty line. Parents were recruited from a local nonprofit organization providing court-mandated parenting classes. Parents reported on their dispositional empathy, physical aggression toward children, psychological control and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms in an interview format. Parents also reported on empathy for their children through a semistructured interview; their empathy was later coded by trained research assistants. Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that parental empathy in the parent-child relationship negatively correlated with parental psychological control. Greater parental psychological control significantly correlated with greater approval of corporal punishment. Moreover, in the subsample of older children (6 years old and above), greater parental dispositional empathy was associated with greater child externalizing symptoms. Further exploratory analyses showed that associations between parental empathy, psychological control, and spanking attitudes differed across parents of boys and of girls. This study highlights the importance of examining empathy specific to the parent-child relationship in addition to dispositional empathy to predict parenting aggression. More importantly, studies should focus on a more covert form of parenting aggression, parental psychological control, in addition to physical aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuang Bi
- Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
- University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA
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Belo-Tomic S, Quinlan E, Read E. Young Adult’s Perception of Their Relationship with an ADHD Parent: A Qualitative Study. CONTEMPORARY FAMILY THERAPY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10591-021-09566-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Disentangling the effects of intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional competence on parental burnout. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-02254-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Moline RL, McMurtry CM, Noel M, McGrath PJ, Chambers CT. Parent–child interactions during pediatric venipuncture: Investigating the role of parent traits, beliefs, and behaviors in relation to child outcomes. Can J Pain 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/24740527.2021.1952065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rachel L. Moline
- Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - C. Meghan McMurtry
- Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
- Pediatric Chronic Pain Program, McMaster Children’s Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Paediatrics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Melanie Noel
- Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute
| | - Patrick J. McGrath
- Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Centre for Research in Family Health, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Christine T. Chambers
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Centre for Pediatric Pain Research, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Stern JA, Costello MA, Kansky J, Fowler C, Loeb EL, Allen JP. Here for You: Attachment and the Growth of Empathic Support for Friends in Adolescence. Child Dev 2021; 92:e1326-e1341. [PMID: 34263461 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Attachment was examined as a predictor of teens' empathic support for friends in a multimethod longitudinal study of 184 U.S. adolescents (58% Caucasian, 29% African American, 13% other) followed from ages 14 to 18. Adolescents' secure state of mind regarding attachment at 14 predicted teens' greater capacity to provide empathic support during observed interactions with friends across ages 16-18 (Baverage = .39). Teens' empathic support was generally stable during this period, and less secure teens were slower to develop these skills. Further, teens' attachment security predicted the degree to which friends called for their support (Baverage = .29), which was associated with teens' responsiveness to such calls. The findings suggest that secure attachment predicts teens' ability to provide empathic support in close friendships.
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Bak Y, Nah Y, Han S, Lee SK, Kim J, Shin NY. Neural correlates of empathy for babies in postpartum women: A longitudinal study. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:3295-3304. [PMID: 33939212 PMCID: PMC8193525 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Revised: 03/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
This study investigated the empathic response of postpartum women to babies in pain and the underlying neural mechanism. Postpartum women responded with more empathy and speed to babies over other stimuli compared to controls. Brain scans taken 3 months after birth showed more elevated activation in the Middle cingulate cortex/middle frontal gyrus (MCC/MFG) than the controls regardless of the task condition. When compared to the adult and neutral conditions, the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) region was consistently more activated when postpartum women saw babies than controls. In addition, higher activation levels in the PCC region for the baby condition significantly correlated with faster and more empathic responses to babies. Considering that PCC is a core region for the theory of mind or mentalizing which requires cognitive reasoning to understand others, these results suggest that PCC might be a pivotal neural locus facilitating cognitive efforts to empathize with babies during the postpartum period. In a follow‐up experiment at 12 months after birth, we were still able to observe higher activity in the MCC/MFG of postpartum women. However, previously observed PCC activation patterns disappeared 12 months after birth, despite the women's response patterns to babies still being maintained. These results suggest that the mentalizing process activated to empathize with babies in the early postpartum period becomes less cognitively demanding over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunjin Bak
- Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Yoonjin Nah
- Department of Psychology, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Sanghoon Han
- Department of Psychology, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Seung-Koo Lee
- Department of Radiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Jiwoong Kim
- Department of Computational Mathematics Science and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Na-Young Shin
- Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
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Anikiej-Wiczenbach P, Kaźmierczak M. Validation of the Parental Responsiveness Scale. CURRENT ISSUES IN PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 9:258-266. [PMID: 38013957 PMCID: PMC10658842 DOI: 10.5114/cipp.2021.104800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Revised: 01/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Parental responsiveness is a parent's predisposition to react to their child's verbal and non-verbal cues promptly and adequately. There is no self-report scale that measures this type of behavior. The aim of this study was to construct a valid and useful scale to measure this construct as subjectively reported by parents of young children. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE Two hundred and fifty parents (including 186 mothers) of young children aged from 1 to 18 months (Mage = 8.60, SDage = 4.06) took part in the study. To confirm the external validity of the tool, participants filled in the following questionnaires: the Parental Responsiveness Scale, the Empathic Sensitivity Scale, and the Experience in Close Relationships-Revised Scale - short version. RESULTS The confirmatory analysis verified the one-dimensional structure and that the model has a good fit. Moreover, the results of external validation indicated satisfactory correlations between parental responsiveness and empathic concern (r = .30, p < .01), perspective-taking (r = .31, p < .01), and avoidance (r = .23, p < .01) in relationships. CONCLUSIONS The Parental Responsiveness Scale is valid and reliable. This scale could be useful in research on family and child development, and on individual differences between parents, but can also be of use in practice.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Maria Kaźmierczak
- Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
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Fernández AM, Baeza CG, Pavez P, Aldunate N. Chilean Version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ) Scale: Adaptation and Psychometric Properties. THE SPANISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 24:e24. [PMID: 33827746 DOI: 10.1017/sjp.2021.26] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
We evaluated the psychometric properties of the empathy quotient (EQ) scale translated to Spanish in Chile. We estimated its structural validity, and its construct validity with other convergent measures of empathy and attachment, as well an inversely associated construct such as aggression. We used a general sample of students and community individuals (n = 336). Participants completed the EQ, Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ). Another exclusively community group (n = 102) completed Collins Adult Attachment scale and the EQ. CFA and ESEM analyses confirmed the structural model fit of the data to three previously reported dimensions of the EQ: cognitive empathy (CE), emotional reactivity (ER) and social skills (SS). Sex-differences in emotional reactivity, and the predicted relationships with the convergent measures were observed. The current Chilean version of the EQ resulted in an appropriate multidimensional measurement of empathy. Finally, providing a specific social skills dimension extends the traditional conception of cognitive and affective empathy to the social realm in the Chilean context.
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Wang S, Hu H, Wang X, Dong B, Zhang T. The Hidden Danger in Family Environment: The Role of Self-Reported Parenting Style in Cognitive and Affective Empathy Among Offenders. Front Psychol 2021; 12:588993. [PMID: 33633632 PMCID: PMC7902076 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.588993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Parenting styles are considered to have an important influence on the development of individuals and have been associated with empathy. The present study aimed to investigate the self-reported different parenting styles in childhood and adolescence and associated cognitive and affective empathy among offenders. Men incarcerated in prison in Jiangsu Province in China were invited to participate. Each consenting participant was asked to complete the Parental Bonding Instrument to collect information regarding the parenting styles they experienced in childhood and adolescence and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index to evaluate their empathy. A multivariable linear regression analysis was conducted to explore the associations between different parenting styles and the empathy of offenders, and a one-way multivariate analysis of variance and a t-test were used to explore the differences in cognitive and affective empathy with different degrees of parenting styles. The parental care and control factors in childhood and adolescence were significantly more strongly associated with empathy among offenders than the parental encouragement factor. There were different associations between the parental care and control factors and offenders' empathy depending on whether the parenting styles were consistent or inconsistent. When the parenting styles were consistent, different degrees of parental care had a significant predictive effect on cognitive and affective empathy, while different degrees of parental control were only significantly associated with affective empathy among the offenders. When the parenting styles were inconsistent, different degrees of paternal and maternal control were associated with cognitive and affective empathy among the offenders. Our findings suggest that not only different parenting styles experienced in childhood and adolescence had different predictive effects on empathy among offenders but also the degrees of parenting styles and whether the paternal and maternal parenting styles were consistent or inconsistent may affect the patterns of parenting styles and empathy. Moreover, the parental control factor had a particular influence on empathy among the offenders. Our findings underscore the pressing need for adopting preventive monitoring measures or developing policies to improve parenting styles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaishai Wang
- School of Public Health, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Geriatric Diseases, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Huagang Hu
- School of Nursing, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | | | - Bo Dong
- Department of Psychology, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, China
| | - Tianyang Zhang
- School of Public Health, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Geriatric Diseases, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.,Research Center for Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
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Wever MCM, van Houtum LAEM, Janssen LHC, Will GJ, Tollenaar MS, Elzinga BM. Neural signatures of parental empathic responses to imagined suffering of their adolescent child. Neuroimage 2021; 232:117886. [PMID: 33617996 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Revised: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Empathy is deemed indispensable for sensitive caregiving. Neuroimaging studies have identified canonical empathy networks consisting of regions supporting cognitive and affective aspects of empathy. However, not much is known about how these regions support empathy towards one's own offspring and how this neural activity relates to parental caregiving. We introduce a novel task to assess affective and neural responses to the suffering of one's own adolescent child. While in the scanner, 60 parents (n = 35 mothers, n = 25 fathers) were confronted with unpleasant situations involving their own child, an unfamiliar child, and themselves. Parents were asked to vividly imagine these situations and indicate their levels of distress. Parents reported higher levels of distress when imagining suffering for their own child relative to an unfamiliar child or themselves. Neuroimaging results showed increased activation within the cognitive empathy network (i.e., temporoparietal junction, dorsomedial- and ventromedial prefrontal cortex) when contrasting suffering of one's own child versus an unfamiliar child or the self. The task also engaged regions of the affective empathy network (i.e., anterior insula and anterior mid-cingulate cortex), which was however not modulated by whether suffering was for the self, one's own child, or an unfamiliar child. Parental care did not co-vary with activity in the empathy networks, but parents who were perceived as less caring exhibited increased activity in anterior prefrontal regions when imagining their own child suffering. These results provide new insights into neural processes supporting parental empathy, highlighting the importance of regions in the cognitive empathy network when confronted with the suffering of their own adolescent child, and suggest that additional (i.e., emotion regulation) networks may be relevant for parental caring behavior in daily life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirjam C M Wever
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Lisanne A E M van Houtum
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Loes H C Janssen
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Geert-Jan Will
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Marieke S Tollenaar
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Bernet M Elzinga
- Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands.
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Neglectful maternal caregiving involves altered brain volume in empathy-related areas. Dev Psychopathol 2021; 32:1534-1543. [PMID: 31845644 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579419001469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
The maternal brain undergoes adaptations to sensitive caregiving that are critical for infant well-being. We investigated structural alterations associated with neglectful caregiving and their effects on mother-child interactive behavior. High-resolution 3D volumetric images were obtained on 25 neglectful (NM) and 23 non-neglectful control (CM) mothers. Using voxel-based morphometry, we compared differences in gray and white matter (GM and WM, respectively) volume. Mothers completed an empathy scale and participated with their children in a play task (Emotional Availability Scale, EA). Neglectful mothers showed smaller GM volume in the right insula, anterior/middle cingulate (ACC/MCC), and right inferior frontal gyrus and less WM volume in bilateral frontal regions than did CM. A greater GM volume was observed in the right fusiform and cerebellum in NM than in CM. Regression analyses showed a negative effect of greater fusiform GM volume and a positive effect of greater right frontal WM volume on EA. Mediation analyses showed the role of emotional empathy in the positive effect of the insula and right inferior frontal gyrus and in the negative effect of the cerebellum on EA. Neglectful mothering involves alterations in emotional empathy-related areas and in frontal areas associated with poor mother-child interactive bonding, indicating how critical these areas are for sensitive caregiving.
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Bayot M, Roskam I, Gallée L, Mikolajczak M. When Emotional Intelligence Backfires. JOURNAL OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.1027/1614-0001/a000324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. While emotional intelligence is generally associated with positive outcomes, little is known about the specific contribution of its intra- and interpersonal dimensions, even less about their interaction. By taking a variable that a priori involves both dimensions, that is, parenting, this study aimed to examine the possibility that intra- and interpersonal emotional competencies (EC) sometimes interact in such a way that the highest is not always the best. In this study, 842 parents (92% of mothers) completed self-reported measures of EC and parental burnout. Hierarchical multiple regression and moderation analyses showed that the level of intrapersonal EC mainly and negatively predicted parental burnout. On the other hand, the level of interpersonal EC positively predicted parental burnout and moderated the relation between intrapersonal EC and parental burnout. As interpersonal EC increased, the protective effect of intrapersonal EC on parental burnout decreased. Our findings therefore highlight the fact that intra- and interpersonal EC do not always work in a cumulative manner and emphasize the importance of studying intra- and interpersonal EC separately. As mothers were overrepresented in our sample, more data on fathers are needed to further generalize these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Bayot
- Département de Médecine générale, UR Soins primaires et Santé, Université de Liège, Belgium
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Isabelle Roskam
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Laura Gallée
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Moïra Mikolajczak
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
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Meidan A, Uzefovsky F. Child maltreatment risk mediates the association between maternal and child empathy. CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 2020; 106:104523. [PMID: 32485322 DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2019] [Revised: 04/10/2020] [Accepted: 05/02/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Empathy deficits are related to parental maltreatment, and early exposure to maltreatment is associated with later impairments in social and interpersonal skills, possibly as the result of specific deficits in cognitive and emotional empathy. OBJECTIVE To examine the association between maternal and child's emotional and cognitive empathy, and how this relationship is mediated by maltreatment risk. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING 462 mothers of 4-10 years olds (48 % girls; M = 6.51 ± 1.57) were recruited through an online platform (Prolific Inc.) during 2018. METHODS Mothers were asked to report on their own cognitive and emotional empathy, views related to abuse risk, and their child's cognitive and emotional empathy. RESULTS Findings show that maternal perspective taking (a measure of cognitive empathy), and maternal personal distress predict child's cognitive empathy through abuse risk (beta = -0.29, p value = 0.0002 and beta = 0.22, p value = 0.0001, respectively). Conversely, for child's emotional empathy there was no mediation through abuse risk, rather direct associations were observed for empathic concern (a measure of emotional empathy; beta = 0.36, p value = 0.0197), personal distress (beta = 0.23, p value = 0.0332), and the fantasy scale (another measure of cognitive empathy; beta = 0.36, p value = 0.0019). CONCLUSIONS These findings help clarify the complex links between maternal empathy, abuse risk, and child's empathy, showing that maternal views related to abuse are specifically predictive of child's cognitive but not emotional empathy. As such, these findings raise further questions regarding the mechanism by which maternal characteristics and behavior are associated with child's empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adi Meidan
- Psychology department & Zlotowski center for neuroscience, Ben Gurion University in the Negev, Israel
| | - Florina Uzefovsky
- Psychology department & Zlotowski center for neuroscience, Ben Gurion University in the Negev, Israel.
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Endendijk JJ, Bos PA, Smit AK, van Baar AL. Pictures of preterm infants elicit increased affective responses and reduced reward-motivation or perspective taking in the maternal brain. Behav Brain Res 2020; 390:112677. [PMID: 32407823 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112677] [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: 01/21/2020] [Revised: 03/01/2020] [Accepted: 04/26/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Preterm-birth increases the risk of several physical, cognitive, neuromotor, and psychosocial problems in children, and is also related to difficulties in the parent-child relationship. Research suggests that the development of early parent-child interactions in general is affected by deviations from typical infant facial characteristics, which may also be important in the case of small, preterm born infants. Therefore, we examined mothers' (N = 22, of whom 17 had no direct experience with preterm birth) neural responses to pictures of preterm and full-term infants using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We also explored whether neural responses to preterm and full-term infants correlated with mothers' self-reported tendencies to be nurturing and protective with children, and with mothers' ratings of affection or aversion toward pictures of preterm infants. Results revealed that, compared to pictures of full-term infants, those of preterm infants elicited more activity in specific areas of the brain (dmPFC, right insula, left caudate, hippocampi, parahippocampi, and PAG), that have previously been associated with processing of negative emotions and with empathy. In addition, less activity was seen in one area of the brain (vmPFC) known to be associated with reward-motivation or mental state understanding and perspective-taking. Higher self-reported maternal nurturance was associated with increased activity to pictures of preterm infants vs full-term infants in the caudate, which might reflect approach- or reward-related processing. To conclude, neural responses to preterm infants are related to reward-motivation, mentalizing, negative emotions, and empathy. Future studies should examine whether such neural processing of preterm infant stimuli might underlie difficulties in the parent-child relationship of parents with a preterm child.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joyce J Endendijk
- Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3548 CS Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Peter A Bos
- Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands; Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3548 CS Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Anne K Smit
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Anneloes L van Baar
- Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3548 CS Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Jiang Y, Lin X, Hinshaw SP, Chi P, Wu Q. Actor-Partner Interdependence of Compassion toward Others with Qualities of Marital Relationship and Parent-Child Relationships in Chinese Families. FAMILY PROCESS 2020; 59:740-755. [PMID: 30963566 DOI: 10.1111/famp.12436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Considering the nature of compassion and cultural and times characteristics of Chinese families, individuals' general dispositional compassion toward others may have potential benefits for relationship qualities in Chinese families. In this study, we explored how men's and women's compassion related to their own (actor effects) and the partners' (partner effects) marital relationship and parent-child relationships, respectively, using the Actor-Partner Interdependent Model. Participants were from a cross-sectional sample of 534 Chinese heterosexual married couples (females' mean age = 37.20, SD = 4.28; males' mean age = 40.29, SD = 5.39) whose biological children were pupils (mean age = 9.28, SD = 1.11). Results revealed that: (a) within marital relationships, couple members' actor effects and partner effects were found both significant; but (b) within parent-child relationships, couple members' actor effects were significant, whereas only mothers' partner effect of compassion on father-child relationship was significant. These findings support the benefits of couple members' individual compassion with respect to family relationship quality in contemporary China. Limitations, implications, and future directions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongqiang Jiang
- Institute of Developmental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiuyun Lin
- Institute of Developmental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | | | - Peilian Chi
- Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau SAR, China
| | - Qinglu Wu
- Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Meng K, Yuan Y, Wang Y, Liang J, Wang L, Shen J, Wang Y. Effects of parental empathy and emotion regulation on social competence and emotional/behavioral problems of school-age children. Pediatr Investig 2020; 4:91-98. [PMID: 32851351 PMCID: PMC7331354 DOI: 10.1002/ped4.12197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Parents take the lead in parent-child interactions and their emotion regulation ability and empathy during parenting may be associated with children's emotional/behavioral problems. However, the specific mechanisms underlying these associations remain unclear. OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to explore the effect of parental empathy and emotional regulation on social competence and emotional/behavioral problems in school-age children. METHODS A questionnaire-based survey was conducted with 274 parents of 8-11-year-old children using Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy. RESULTS Children with emotional/behavioral problems (n = 37) had relatively lower social competence than children in a matched control group (n = 37). Compared with the parents of children in the control group, parents of children with emotional/behavioral problems had significantly lower cognitive empathy scores, mainly manifested by low perspective-taking and online simulation abilities. Mediation analysis showed that parental cognitive empathy had an indirect effect on children's emotional/behavioral problems through children's social competence. INTERPRETATION Parental empathy may have a subtle influence on the social competence of school-aged children, which further affects the severity of children's emotional/behavioral problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kun Meng
- Department of Foreign LanguagesWeifang Medical UniversityWeifangChina
| | - Yizhe Yuan
- Department of PsychologyWeifang Medical UniversityWeifangChina
| | - Yali Wang
- Department of PsychologyWeifang Medical UniversityWeifangChina
| | - Jianning Liang
- Department of PsychologyWeifang Medical UniversityWeifangChina
| | - Lijun Wang
- Department of PsychologyWeifang Medical UniversityWeifangChina
| | - Jianfei Shen
- Department of PsychologyWeifang Medical UniversityWeifangChina
| | - Yanyu Wang
- Department of PsychologyWeifang Medical UniversityWeifangChina
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Zhang K, Wang M, Zhang J, Du X, Chen Z. Brain Structural Plasticity Associated with Maternal Caregiving in Mothers: A Voxel- and Surface-Based Morphometry Study. NEURODEGENER DIS 2020; 19:192-203. [PMID: 32396895 DOI: 10.1159/000506258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pregnancy constitutes a significant period in the lives of women, after which they often experience numerous crucial physiological and psychological changes. Functional neuroimaging studies have shown longitudinal changes in functional brain activity in mothers responding to infant-related stimuli. However, the structural changes that occur in the brains of mothers after delivery remain to be explored. OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate the structural changes in mothers during the postpartum phase. METHODS We recruited 35 primiparous mothers and 26 nonmothers to participate in this voxel- and surface-based morphometry study, and 22 mothers were scanned twice with a follow-up of approximately 2 years. RESULTS Compared to nonmothers, mothers exhibited reduced gray matter (GM) volumes and increased white matter (WM) volumes in regions associated with empathy and reward networks (supplementary motor area, precuneus, inferior parietal lobe, insula, and striatum), decreased cortical thickness in the precentral gyrus and increased gyrification index in the orbitofrontal cortex. Furthermore, mothers showed longitudinal changes in the GM and WM volumes and cortical thickness of several of these regions (including the superior and medial frontal gyrus, insula, limbic lobe, superior and middle temporal gyrus, and precentral gyrus), which have been associated with maternal networks during the postpartum period. Additionally, the changes in GM and WM volumes were related to changes in empathetic abilities in mothers. CONCLUSION These results suggest that the brains of mothers exhibit adaptive structural dynamic plasticity. These findings provide a neuroanatomical basis for understanding how mothers process emotional sensory information during the postpartum period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaihua Zhang
- Department of Electronic Science, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Plasma and Magnetic Resonance, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Department of Physics, School of Physics and Materials Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Mengxing Wang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Department of Physics, School of Physics and Materials Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jilei Zhang
- Clinical Science, Philips Healthcare, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaoxia Du
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Department of Physics, School of Physics and Materials Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhong Chen
- Department of Electronic Science, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Plasma and Magnetic Resonance, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China,
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43
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Salo VC, Schunck SJ, Humphreys KL. Depressive symptoms in parents are associated with reduced empathy toward their young children. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0230636. [PMID: 32203542 PMCID: PMC7089529 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND While depression is typically associated with reduced levels of empathy, this association differs depending on how empathy is measured. Given the importance of empathy in the parent-child relationship, we sought to examine whether the associations between depression and dispositional empathy would also extend to empathy towards one's own child. METHODS Within a non-clinical sample of 150 parents of young children, we examined the associations between self-reported depressive symptoms, dispositional empathic tendencies, and empathy specifically toward their own children, and how these associations might differ based on parent gender. RESULTS Depressive symptoms were related to lower levels of cognitive and affective empathy, and higher levels of empathic distress. Over and above the association with dispositional empathy, depressive symptoms were associated with reduced levels of parents' affective empathy toward their own child. The associations between depressive symptoms and both dispositional and own-child specific empathy varied by parent gender. For fathers, depressive symptoms predicted own-child specific affective empathy, over and above dispositional affective empathy, while for mothers, depressive symptoms predicted own-child specific empathic distress, over and above dispositional empathic distress. CONCLUSIONS The current findings provide further indication that caregivers with elevated depression may engage in patterns of thoughts and behaviors that have implications for their interactions with their children. Parents' experienced empathy toward their own child may be one mechanism by which depression impacts the early caregiving environment, and thus may be an important target for intervention in improving the early caregiving experiences for children at elevated risk due to parental depression. Differences in cognitive and affective empathy found among those with depression may be even more pronounced in the thoughts and feelings towards one's own child, making this an important clinical target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia C. Salo
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Sara J. Schunck
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Kathryn L. Humphreys
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
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44
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Venta A, Galicia B, Bailey C, Abate A, Marshall K, Long T. Attachment and loss in the context of US immigration: caregiver separation and characteristics of internal working models of attachment in high school students. Attach Hum Dev 2019; 22:474-489. [DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2019.1664604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Venta
- Department of Psychology & Philosophy, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
| | - Betsy Galicia
- Department of Psychology & Philosophy, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
| | - Cassandra Bailey
- Department of Psychology & Philosophy, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
| | - Anna Abate
- Department of Psychology & Philosophy, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
| | - Kaisa Marshall
- Department of Psychology & Philosophy, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
| | - Tessa Long
- Department of Psychology & Philosophy, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
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Tallon M, Pope N, Munns A, Wilson S. It's all talk: refocusing the conversation about psychosocial health of the family unit. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 17:1268-1269. [PMID: 31305385 DOI: 10.11124/jbisrir-d-19-00201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mary Tallon
- School of Nursing Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.,Department of Nursing Research, Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, Australia
| | - Nicole Pope
- School of Nursing Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.,Western Australian Group for Evidence Informed Healthcare Practice: a Joanna Briggs Institute Centre of Excellence
| | - Ailsa Munns
- School of Nursing Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.,Western Australian Group for Evidence Informed Healthcare Practice: a Joanna Briggs Institute Centre of Excellence
| | - Sally Wilson
- School of Nursing Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.,Western Australian Group for Evidence Informed Healthcare Practice: a Joanna Briggs Institute Centre of Excellence
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46
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Gardenhire J, Schleiden C, Brown CC. Attachment as a Tool in the Treatment of Children Within Foster Care. CONTEMPORARY FAMILY THERAPY 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10591-018-09487-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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47
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De Carli P, Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, Parolin L, Lega C, Zanardo B, Cattaneo Z, Riem MME. A walk on the dark side: TMS over the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) disrupts behavioral responses to infant stimuli. Soc Neurosci 2019; 14:697-704. [PMID: 30678532 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2019.1574891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Infant signals, including infant sounds and facial expressions, play a critical role in eliciting parental proximity and care. Processing of infant signals in the adulthood brain is likely to recruit emotional empathy neural circuits, including the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Here, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to test the role of right IFG (rIFG) in behavioral responses to infant signals. Specifically, a group of nulliparous women were asked to perform a handgrip dynamometer task and an Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT) after receiving TMS over the right IFG or over a control site (vertex). Suppressing activity in the rIFG affected the modulation of handgrip force in response to infant crying. Moreover, the AAT showed that participants tend to avoid the sad infant face after Vertex stimulation, and this bias was counteracted by rIFG stimulation. Our results suggest a causal role of rIFG in sensitive responding towards sad infants and point to the rIFG as a critical node in the neural network underlying the innate releasing mechanism for feelings of love, affection and caring of sad infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pietro De Carli
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua , Padua , Italy.,Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca , Milan , Italy
| | - Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg
- Clinical Child and Family Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.,Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University , Leiden , The Netherlands
| | - Laura Parolin
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca , Milan , Italy
| | - Carlotta Lega
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca , Milan , Italy.,Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement, University of Verona , Verona , Italy
| | - Beatrice Zanardo
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca , Milan , Italy
| | - Zaira Cattaneo
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca , Milan , Italy.,IRCCS Mondino Foundation , Pavia , Italy
| | - Madelon M E Riem
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University , Leiden , The Netherlands.,Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University , Tilburg , The Netherlands
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Boorman RJ, Creedy DK, Fenwick J, Muurlink O. Empathy in pregnant women and new mothers: a systematic literature review. J Reprod Infant Psychol 2018; 37:84-103. [PMID: 30269515 DOI: 10.1080/02646838.2018.1525695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This systematic review explores changes in perinatal empathy and influence on maternal behaviours and child development. BACKGROUND The well-being and development of infants are commonly linked to their mothers' capacity for empathy. However, characteristic changes during pregnancy and childbirth including sleep deprivation, mood and cognitive difficulties may disrupt empathic processing. METHODS Original research papers (n = 7413) published in English language peer-reviewed academic journals were obtained by searching four electronic databases PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus and CINAHL. Inclusion criteria were studies reporting empathy of women in the period from pregnancy to 12 months postpartum. Empathy was operationalised as a general tendency of empathic emotional responding and cognitive perspective taking. Thirteen studies were systematically assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme criteria. RESULTS Impaired empathy in mothers, due most notably to high personal distress, was associated with risk of neglect or maltreatment of children and was partially explained by mothers' aversive response to infant crying. CONCLUSION Few studies present empathy as a central theme. There is a paucity of definitional parameters and theoretical linkages and over-reliance on brief self-report indices of empathy. Future studies need to be theory based, incorporate experimental approaches, and provide greater sampling diversity toadvance our understanding of empathy in perinatal women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhonda J Boorman
- a School of Nursing and Midwifery , Griffith University , Meadowbrook , Australia
| | - Debra K Creedy
- a School of Nursing and Midwifery , Griffith University , Meadowbrook , Australia
| | - Jennifer Fenwick
- a School of Nursing and Midwifery , Griffith University , Meadowbrook , Australia
| | - Olav Muurlink
- b School of Business and Law , Central Queensland University , Brisbane , Australia.,c Griffith Institute for Educational Research , Griffith University , Nathan , Australia
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van Wingerden E, Sterkenburg PS, Wouda M. Improving empathy and self-efficacy in caregivers of persons with intellectual disabilities, using m-learning (HiSense APP-ID): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials 2018; 19:400. [PMID: 30053893 PMCID: PMC6062871 DOI: 10.1186/s13063-018-2772-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 06/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background A secure attachment with one or more caregivers is one of the most important predictors of cognitive development and emotional wellbeing. Persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) have extra need for secure relationships with primary caregivers but can find making connections difficult. This study aims to explore the effect of a non-invasive m-learning intervention on the empathy and self-efficacy of caregivers, in view of improving attachment relationships with persons with ID. Methods A randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted to assess the efficacy of the HiSense APP-ID. The study will include 100 parents/relatives and 100 professional caregivers of adults with mild or moderate ID (18 years and older). Of both groups of participants, half will complete the m-learning intervention. Data will be collected before the intervention starts, immediately after completion of the m-learning, and 1 month after the intervention. Participants will complete questionnaires concerning knowledge about attachment theory, empathy and self-efficacy (primary outcome measures) and social validity (secondary measures). Discussion The intervention aims to increase caregiver understanding of attachment theory and to improve empathy and self-efficacy, which may lead to better care and less stress in social interactions. The HiSense APP-ID is an m-learning intervention that can be done independently on any digital device. The course is therefore easily accessible for caregivers of persons with ID. The current study will provide insight into the effectiveness of the intervention for parents/family members and professional caregivers of persons with mild or moderate ID. Trial registration Nederlands Trial Register, NTR 6944. Registered on 16 December 2017. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-018-2772-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelien van Wingerden
- Department of Clinical Child and Family Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Paula S Sterkenburg
- Department of Clinical Child and Family Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychotherapy, Bartiméus, Doorn, The Netherlands
| | - Mirjam Wouda
- Stichting Ons Tweede Thuis, Hortensialaan 55A, 1431 VA, Aalsmeer, The Netherlands
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50
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Empathy from infancy to adolescence: An attachment perspective on the development of individual differences. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2017.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
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