Empathy is an extensively studied construct, but operationalization of effective empathy is routinely debated in popular culture, theory, and empirical research. This article offers a process-focused approach emphasizing the relational functions of empathy in interpersonal contexts. We argue that this perspective offers advantages over more traditional conceptualizations that focus on primarily intrapsychic features (i.e., within the individual). Our aim is to enrich current conceptualizations and empirical approaches to the study of empathy by drawing on psychological, philosophical, medical, linguistic, and anthropological perspectives. In doing so, we highlight the various functions of empathy in social interaction, underscore some underemphasized components in empirical studies of empathy, and make recommendations for future research on this important area in the study of emotion.

The development of empathy is central to positive social adjustment. However, issues remain with integrating empathy research conducted with children, adolescents, and adults. The current article (a) provides an overview of how empathy is typically conceptualized and measured in child development and adult research, (b) describes outstanding issues concerning child development and adult research on empathy, and (c) outlines how a relational approach can provide clarity regarding how empathy develops over the course of development. We conclude by offering suggestions for future research on the development of empathy across the lifespan.

To address injustices that privilege whiter neighborhoods, many advocate for residential integration. The developmental consequences of greater exposure to whiteness associated with integration, however, are unclear. Research examining BIPOC adolescent development within the context of intraindividual changes in neighborhood white concentration -the changes that take place if an adolescent moves to a whiter neighborhood or if their neighborhood becomes whiter-is needed. We examined trajectories of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in a longitudinal sample of U.S. Mexican adolescents (N = 749; 48.9% girls; 70.2% born in the United States). When adolescents experienced an uptick in neighborhood white concentration, they experienced a corresponding uptick in externalizing symptoms. We discuss the impacts of navigating whiter neighborhoods for U.S. Mexican adolescent well-being.

Stress is multidimensional, including exposure, subjective appraisals, perceived coping, rumination, and worry. Although research has shown each dimension can predict poor social, emotional, and subjective well-being, rarely have these dimensions of stress been compared as one is experiencing stress. This paper used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to repeatedly measure stress dimensions and self-reported health to test whether each stress dimension has a unique relationship with well-being over time at the between-person and within-person levels.Participants (n = 165, 79.6% female) were Hispanic undergraduates, who completed EMAs twice a day for 14 consecutive days, resulting in 3,436 EMAs and 1,987 morning sleep observations. At each EMA, participants reported on the dimensions of stress, feelings of loneliness and belongingness (social well-being), levels of sadness, happiness, and anxiety (emotional well-being), and how healthy they felt (subjective well-being). Sleep quality and duration (subjective well-being) were assessed each morning. Multilevel models revealed few relationships at the between-person level. At the within-person level, appraisals, coping, rumination, and worry consistently predicted social, emotional, and subjective well-being. Lagged analyses suggested some relationships for appraisal, coping, and worry. Results suggest the importance of measuring stress in a multidimensional capacity and examining associations with well-being across multiple health facets.

Objective To (1) test associations between parents’ empathic accuracy for their adolescents’ positive and negative emotions and adolescents’ physical and mental health (HbA1c, diabetes self-care, and depressive symptoms) in a predominantly Latinx sample of adolescents with type 1 diabetes and their parents, and (2) explore how familism values were associated with parent empathic accuracy and adolescent physical and mental health in this population. Methods Parents and adolescents engaged in a discussion about a topic of frequent conflict related to the adolescents’ diabetes management. Parents and adolescents subsequently completed a video recall task in which they rated their own and their partner’s emotions once per minute; parents’ empathic accuracy was calculated from an average discrepancy between parent and adolescent ratings of the adolescent’s emotions. Adolescents reported on their depressive symptoms and both parents and adolescents reported on adolescents’ diabetes self-care and their own familism values; HbA1c was obtained from medical records. Results Results from structural equation modeling revealed that parents’ empathic accuracy for adolescents’ negative (but not positive) emotions was uniquely associated with adolescents’ HbA1c, self-care, and depressive symptoms. There was limited evidence that familism was related to parent empathic accuracy or adolescent physical and mental health. Conclusions Promoting parents’ empathic accuracy for adolescents’ negative emotions in the context of type 1 diabetes management may have important implications for adolescents’ mental and physical health.