Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Adolescents’ Empathy and Prosocial Behavior in the Family Context: A Longitudinal Study

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Children’s empathy and prosocial behavior play an important role in their social competence. Of the influential factors, research has demonstrated that parental behaviors and the quality of the parent–child relationship are important correlates of children’s development of empathy and prosocial behavior. The current study examined the associations between different types of parental behaviors (i.e., parental knowledge, parental solicitation, and parental psychological control), “balanced connectedness” in the parent–child relationship, which allows for both closeness and autonomy, and empathy and prosocial behavior in adolescents. The participants were 335 married couples (more than 80 % European American) and their adolescent child (49.0 % female; 10–13 years). Data were collected at three time points for parental behaviors, balanced parent–child connectedness, and adolescents’ empathy and prosocial behavior, respectively. The results of structural equation modeling suggested that adolescents’ perceptions of parental solicitation and parental psychological control may be associated with their empathy and prosocial behavior through their perceived balanced connectedness with parents. These findings suggest that enhancing balanced connectedness in the parent–child relationship may contribute to promoting empathy and prosocial behavior in adolescents over time. Further, this study suggests that parental solicitation may play a role in adolescents’ empathic and prosocial development, possibly depending on the quality of the parent–child relationship.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1958). Measuring security in personal adjustment. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandy, R., & Ottoni-Wilhelm, M. (2012). Family structure and income during the stages of childhood and subsequent prosocial behavior in young adulthood. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1023–1034.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barber, B. K. (1996). Parental psychological control: Revisiting a neglected construct. Child Development, 67, 3296–3319.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barber, B. K. (2002). Positive interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning: An assessment of measures among adolescents. In K. A. Moore & L. H. Lippman (Eds.), What do children need to flourish? (pp. 147–161). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barber, B. K., Olsen, J. E., & Shagle, S. C. (1994). Associations between parental psychological and behavioral control and youth internalized and externalized behaviors. Child Development, 65, 1120–1136.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barber, B. K., Stolz, H. E., & Olsen, J. A. (2005). Parental support, psychological control, and behavioral control: Assessing relevance across time, culture and method. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 70, 1–147.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Batson, C. D. (1991). The altruism question: Toward a social–psychological answer. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlo, G., Fabes, R. A., Laible, D., & Kupanoff, K. (1999). Early adolescence and prosocial/moral behavior II: The role of social and contextual influences. Journal of Early Adolescence, 19, 133–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, M., McLanahan, S. S., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2006). Do good partners make good parents? Relationship quality and parenting in two-parent families. Princeton, NJ: Center for Research on Child Wellbeing Working Paper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chase-Lansdale, P. L., Wakschlag, L. S., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1995). A psychological perspective on the development of caring in children and youth: The role of the family. Journal of Adolescence, 18, 515–556.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, K. E., & Ladd, G. W. (2000). Connectedness and autonomy support in parent-child relationships: Links to children’s socioemotional orientation and peer relationships. Developmental Psychology, 36, 485–498.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. H. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 10, 85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Day, R. D., & Padilla-Walker, L. M. (2009). Mother and father connectedness and involvement during early adolescence. Journal of Family Psychology, 23(6), 900–904.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, J. (1988). The beginnings of social understanding. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, J. (2006). Moral development in early childhood and social interaction in the family. In M. Killen & J. G. Smetana (Eds.), Handbook of moral development (pp. 331–350). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N. (1986). Altruistic emotion, cognition, and behavior. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., & Spinrad, T. L. (2006). Prosocial behavior. In N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.) and W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Series Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (6th edn., pp. 646–718). New York: Wiley.

  • Eisenberg, N., Lennon, R., & Pasternak, J. F. (1986). Altruistic values and moral judgment. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.), Altruistic emotion, cognition and behavior (pp. 115–159). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fabes, R. A., Carlo, G., Kupanoff, K., & Laible, D. (1999). Early adolescence and prosocial/moral behavior I: The role of individual processes. Journal of Early Adolescence, 19(1), 5–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fabes, R. A., & Eisenberg, N. (1996). An examination of age and sex differences in prosocial behavior and empathy. Unpublished manuscript, Arizona State University at Tempe.

  • Fletcher, A., Steinberg, L., & Williams-Wheeler, M. (2004). Parental influences on adolescent problem behavior: Revisiting Stattin and Kerr. Child Development, 75, 781–796.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hastings, P. D., Rubin, K. H., & DeRose, L. (2005). Links among gender, inhibition, and parental socialization in the development of prosocial behavior. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 51, 467–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hastings, P. D., Utendale, W. T., & Sullivan, C. (2007). The socialization of prosocial development. In J. E. Grusec & P. D. Hastings (Eds.), Handbook of socialization: Theory and research (pp. 638–664). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hastings, P. D., Zahn-Waxler, C., Robinson, J., Usher, B., & Bridges, D. (2000). The development of concern for others in children with behavior problems. Developmental Psychology, 36, 531–546.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hawk, S. T., Hale, W. W., I. I. I., Raaijmakers, Q. A. W., & Meeus, W. (2008). Adolescents’ perceptions of privacy invasion in reaction to parental solicitation and control. Journal of Early Adolescence, 28, 583–608.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs, 76(4), 408–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinde, R. A. (2002). Why good is good: The sources of morality. London/New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, M. L. (1983). Affective and cognitive processes in moral internalization. In E. T. Higgins, D. N. Ruble, & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), Social cognition and social development (pp. 236–274). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, M. L. (2000). Empathy and moral development: Implications for caring and justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Huebner, A. J., & Mancini, J. A. (2003). Shaping structured out-of-school time use among youth: The effects of self, family, and friend systems. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32, 453–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jagers, R. J., Morgan-Lopez, A. A., Howard, T. L., Browne, D. C., Flay, B. R., & Coinvestigators, A. A. (2007). Mediators of the development and prevention of violent behaviors. Prevention Science, 8, 171–179.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kanat-Maymon, M., & Assor, A. (2010). Perceived maternal control and responsiveness to distress as predictors of young adults’ empathic responses. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 33–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keith, J. G., Nelson, C. S., Schlabach, J. H., & Thompson, C. J. (1990). The relationship between parental employment and three measures of early adolescent responsibility: Family-related, personal, and social. Journal of Early Adolescence, 10, 399–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr, M. H., Beck, K., Shattuck, T. D., Kattar, C., & Uriburu, D. (2003). Family involvement, problem and prosocial behavior outcomes of Latino Youth. American Journal of Health Behavior, 27, S55–S65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2000). What parents know, how they know it, and several forms of adolescent adjustment: Further support for a reinterpretation of monitoring. Developmental Psychology, 36, 366–380.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kestenbaum, R., Farber, E. A., & Sroufe, L. A. (1989). Individual differences in empathy among preschoolers: Relation to attachment history. New Directions for Child Development, 44, 51–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kiesner, J., Dishion, T. J., Poulin, F., & Pastore, M. (2009). Temporal dynamics linking aspects of parent monitoring with early adolescent antisocial behavior. Social Development, 18, 765–784.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laible, D. J., Carlo, G., & Roesch, S. C. (2004). Pathways to self-esteem in late adolescence: The role of parent and peer attachment, empathy, and social behaviours. Journal of Adolescence, 27, 703–716.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laird, R. D., Marrero, M. D., & Sentse, M. (2010). Revisiting parental monitoring: Evidence that parental solicitation can be effective when needed most. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 1431–1441.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laird, R. D., Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (2003a). Parents’ monitoring-relevant knowledge and adolescents’ delinquent behavior: Evidence of correlated developmental changes and reciprocal influences. Child Development, 74, 752–768.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laird, R. D., Pettit, G. S., Dodge, K. A., & Bates, J. E. (2003b). Change in parents’ monitoring knowledge: Links with parenting, relationship quality, adolescent beliefs, and antisocial behavior. Social Development, 12, 401–419.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R. M., Draper, M., & Lee, S. (2001). Social connectedness, dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors, and psychological distress: Testing a mediator model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48, 310–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lichter, D. T., Shanahan, M. J., & Gardner, E. L. (2002). Helping others? The effects of childhood poverty and family instability on prosocial behavior. Youth & Society, 34, 89–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindsey, E. W., Colwell, M. J., Frabutt, J. M., Chambers, J., & MacKinnon-Lewis, C. (2008). Mother-child dyadic synchrony in European American and African American families during early adolescence. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54, 289–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, R. J. A. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83, 1198–1202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath, M. P., & Zook, J. M. (2011). Maternal control of girls versus boys: Relations to empathy and persuasive style with peers. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 20, 57–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMahon, S. D., & Washburn, J. J. (2003). Violence prevention: An evaluation of program effects with urban African American students. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 24, 43–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mussen, P., & Eisenberg-Berg, N. (1977). Roots of caring, sharing and helping: The development of prosocial behavior in children. San Francisco: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2008). Mplus 5.1 [Computer software]. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.

    Google Scholar 

  • Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Christensen, K. J. (2011). Empathy and self-regulation as mediators between parenting and adolescents’ prosocial behavior toward strangers, friends, and family. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, 545–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parke, R. D., & Sawin, D. B. (1979). Children’s privacy in the home: Developmental, ecological, and child-rearing determinants. Environment and Behavior, 11, 87–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patrick, R. B., & Gibbs, J. C. (2012). Inductive discipline, parental expression of disappointed expectations, and moral identity in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 973–983.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Washington, DC: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petronio, S. (1994). Privacy binds in family interactions: The case of parental privacy invasion. In W. R. E. Cupach & B. H. E. Spitzberg (Eds.), The dark side of interpersonal communication (pp. 241–257). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, M. W., Skoe, E. E., & Arnold, M. L. (2004). Care reasoning development and family socialization patterns in later adolescence: A longitudinal analysis. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 139–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sallquist, J., Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., Eggum, N. D., & Gaertner, B. M. (2009). Assessment of preschoolers’ positive empathy: Concurrent and longitudinal relations with positive emotion, social competence, and sympathy. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 223–233.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Savin-Williams, R. C., & Berndt, T. J. (1990). Friendship and peer relations. In S. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 277–307). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selman, R. L. (1980). The growth of interpersonal understanding: Developmental and clinical analyses. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shek, D. T. L. (2006). Perceived parent-child relational qualities and parental behavioral and psychological control in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. Adolescence, 41, 563–581.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shrout, P. E., & Bolger, N. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 7(4), 422–445.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Soenens, B., Duriez, B., Vansteenkiste, M., & Goossens, L. (2007). The intergenerational transmission of empathy-related responding in adolescence: The role of maternal support. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 299–311.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stattin, H., & Kerr, M. (2000). Parental monitoring: A reinterpretation. Child Development, 71, 1072–1085.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Staub, E. (1992). The origins of caring, helping, and nonaggression: Parental socialization, the family system, schools, and cultural influence. In P. M. Oliner, L. Baron, L. A. Blum, D. L. Krebs, & M. Z. Smolenska (Eds.), Embracing the other: Philosophical, psychological, and historical perspectives on altruism (pp. 390–412). New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, S. M., Bond, M. H., Ho, L. M., Zaman, R. M., Dar, R., & Anwar, M. (2000). Perceptions of parents and adolescent outcomes in Pakistan. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 18, 335–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Q., Pomerantz, E. M., & Chen, H. (2007). The role of parents’ control in early adolescents’ psychological functioning: A longitudinal investigation in the United States and China. Child Development, 78, 1592–1610.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Willoughby, T., & Hamza, C. A. (2011). A longitudinal examination of the bidirectional associations among perceived parenting behaviors, adolescent disclosure and problem behavior across the high school years. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40, 463–478.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yeoh, S. H., & Woo, P. J. (2010). Parental involvement and its effects on satisfaction of parent-child relationship. Sunway Academic Journal, 7, 48–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Youniss, J., & Smollar, J. (1985). Adolescent relations with mothers, fathers, and friends. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding for this project was provided by a series of grants and donations from the College of Family, Home, and Social Science and the Family Studies Center at Brigham Young University. Generous funds were also contributed by several donors.

Author contributions

HY conceived of this research project and led this study as the first author, completing data analysis and writing the majority of the manuscript; XF guided HY throughout the research process by helping with data analysis and providing substantive feedback on each draft; RD is the primary investigator (PI) of the longitudinal research project on which the current study is based. He contributed to the completion of the manuscript by providing detailed information about the sample, measurements, and research agenda for each wave of the data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University, 135 Campbell Hall, 1787 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Hana Yoo & Xin Feng

  2. School of Family Life, 2092b JFSB, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

    Randal D. Day

Authors
  1. Hana Yoo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xin Feng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Randal D. Day
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hana Yoo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Yoo, H., Feng, X. & Day, R.D. Adolescents’ Empathy and Prosocial Behavior in the Family Context: A Longitudinal Study. J Youth Adolescence 42, 1858–1872 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9900-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9900-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation