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The Relations of Parental Warmth and Positive Expressiveness to Children's Empathy‐Related Responding and Social Functioning: A Longitudinal Study
Author(s) -
Zhou Qing,
Eisenberg Nancy,
Losoya Sandra H.,
Fabes Richard A.,
Reiser Mark,
Guthrie Ivanna K.,
Murphy Bridget C.,
Cumberland Amanda J.,
Shepard Stephanie A.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8624.00446
Subject(s) - psychology , empathy , developmental psychology , expressivity , situational ethics , social relation , social competence , longitudinal study , structural equation modeling , competence (human resources) , social psychology , social change , statistics , genetics , mathematics , economics , biology , economic growth
This study examined the concurrent and cross‐time relations of parental observed warmth and positive expressivity to children's situational facial and self‐reported empathic responding, social competence, and externalizing problems in a sample of 180 elementary school children. Data was collected when the children were in second to fifth grades (age: M = 112.8 months), and again 2 years later. Cross‐sectional and longitudinal structural equation models supported the hypothesis that parents’ (mostly mothers’) positive expressivity mediated the relation between parental warmth and children's empathy, and children's empathy mediated the relation between parental positive expressivity and children's social functioning. These relations persisted after controlling for prior levels of parenting and child characteristics. Moreover, concurrent and cross‐time consistencies were found on measures of parenting, children's situational empathic responding, and social functioning.