Developmental trajectories of empathic concern in infancy and their links to social competence in early childhood

Abstract

Background: Empathic concern is an important component of children's social competence. Yet, little is known about the role of the development of concern for others during infancy as a predictor of social competence in early childhood. Methods: Israeli infants (N = 165, 50% girls) were observed five times, from 3 to 36 months. Empathic concern was assessed at ages 3-18 months using observations, and four components of social competence were assessed at 36 months using observations and teacher reports. Results: Four groups with distinct developmental trajectories of empathic concern from 3 to 18 months were identified: early-onset (starting high and increasing), lowempathy (starting low with minimal increase), rising (starting low and increasing considerably), and a very small group with a negative slope (decreasing). The first three trajectories differed on aspects of social competence at 36 months. Early-onset children continued to exhibit the highest empathic concern. Both the early-onset and rising groups had greater affective knowledge than the low-empathy group. Moreover, the rising group had better peer relations compared with low-empathy trajectory children. Conclusions: Children who exhibit high levels of empathy early in infancy are likely to show high social competence later on. However, even when initial empathy levels are low, subsequent growth in empathy from 3 to 18 months can occur, with positive consequences for children's social competence at 36 months. Only children with low initial empathic concern and minimal growth across infancy are at increased risk of having poorer socioemotional capabilities in early childhood.

Mother‐child bidirectional influences in the development of concern for others: Disentangling positive parenting in two predominantly white, North American Samples

“…There can be substantial variation in the developmental trajectories of concern for others, with implications for children's future well‐being. For example, toddlers with trajectories of both consistently high and increasing empathic concern exhibited greater preschool teacher‐reported social competence whereas those with consistently low empathic concern had poorer social competence (Paz et al., 2022). Examining parental socialization of concern for others may elucidate mechanisms promoting preschool children's spontaneous, compassionate emotional and behavioral responses toward others (Hastings, Utendale et al., 2007; Spinrad et al., 2019).…”