Empathy and child emotional and behavioral problems
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/2236-6407.2021v12n3p119Keywords:
empathy, externalizing problems, internalizing problems, child developmentAbstract
Empathy is an emotional response that resembles the emotion felt by the other. Low empathy impact social relationships, correlating with emotional and behavioral problems. The present study aimed to compare groups of children with and without clinical tests of internal and external problems and syndromic scales related to empathy. 106 children enrolled from first to third degrees of elementary school participated. They answered a scale about empathy; their caregivers completed the Sociodemographic Data Questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist – CBCL. Comparison tests (t-student and Mann-Whitney) indicate that children with external problems have a higher average of global empathy and concern for others (affective empathy). Children with conduct problems exhibited higher levels of emotional involvement (affective empathy), as well as the children with internal problems. Results suggests that high levels of affective empathy may increase vulnerability to the development of emotional and behavioral problems in this period of child development.
References
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Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2004). Mental health practitioners' guide for the Achenbach System of Empiricall y Based Assessment (ASEBA) (4a ed.) Burlington: University of Vermont.
Alves, S. M. (2012). A relação entre capacidades empáticas, depressão e ansiedade em jovens. (Dissertação de Mestrado) Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia Social, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB.
Anselmi, L., Piccinini, C. A., Barros, F. C., & Lopes, R. S. (2004). Psychosocial determinants of behavior problems in Brazilian preschool children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(4), 779-788. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00271.x
Barnett, G., & Mann, R. E. (2013). Empathy deficits and sexual offending: a model of obstacles to empathy. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18(2), 228-239. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.avb.2012.11.010
Borsa, J. C., & Nunes, M. L. T. (2011). Prevalência de problemas de comportamento em uma amostra de crianças em idade escolar da cidade de Porto Alegre. Aletheia, 34, 32-46.
Borsa, J., Souza, D., & Bandeira, D. (2011). Prevalência de problemas de comportamento em uma amostra de crianças do Rio Grande do Sul. Psicologia: Teoria e Prática, 13(2), 15-29.
Bray, K., Pantelis, C., Anderson, V., & Whittle, S. L. (2018). Empathy and depressive symptoms during childhood: an investigation of neural mechanisms using resting state functional connectivity. Biological Psychiatry, 83(9), S147. https://doi.org10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.02.383
Ciucci, E., Baroncelli, A., Golmaryami, F., N, & Frick., P. J. (2015). The emotional correlates to callous–unemotional traits in children. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(8), 2374-2387. https:// https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-0040-3
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning – CASEL. (2017). Framework for systemic social and emotional learning. Recuperado de http://www.casel.org/what-is-sel
Cuff. B. M., Brown. S. J., Taylor L., &Howat, D. J. (2016). Empathy: a review of the concept. Emotion Review, 8(2), 144-153. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1754073914558466
Decety, J., & Svetlova, M. (2012). Putting together phylogenetic and ontogenetic perspectives on empathy. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2011.05.003
Denham, S. A. (1998). Emotional development in young children. New York: The Guilford Press.
Eysenck. M. W., & Keane. M. T. (2017). Manual de Psicologia Cognitiva. 7ª ed. Porto Alegre. RS: Artmed.
Frick P. J., & Ellis M. (1999). Callous-unemotional traits and subtypes of conduct disorder. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 2(3), 149–168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1021803005547
Frick P. J., & White, S. F. (2008). Research review: the importance of callous-unemotional traits for developmental models of aggressive and antisocial behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49(4), 359–375. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01862.x
Gambin, M., & Sharp, C. (2016). The differential relations between and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in inpatient adolescents. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 47(6), 966–974. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-016-0625-8
Green, L. M., Missotten, L., Tone, E. B., & Luyckx, K. (2018). Empathy, depressive symptoms, and selfesteem in adolescence: the moderating role of the mother–adolescente relationship. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(12), 3964-3974. https:// https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1216-z
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(5), 531-546. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.5.531
Justo, A. R., Carvalho, J. C. N., & Kristensen, C. H. (2014). Desenvolvimento da empatia em crianças: a influência dos estilos parentais. Psicologia, Saúde & Doenças, 15(2), 510-523.
Kardos, P., Leidner, B., Pléh, C., Soltész, P., &Unoka, Z. (2017). Empathic people have more friends: empathic abilities predict social network size and position in social network predicts empathic efforts. Social Networks, 50, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2017.01.004
Kirst-Conceição, A. de C., & Martinelli, S. de C. (2014). Análises psicométricas iniciais de uma escala de empatia infanto-juvenil (EEmpa-IJ). Avaliação Psicológica, 13(3), 351-358.
Langen, M.A.M. van, Wissink, I.B., Vugt, E.S. van, Stouwe, T. Van der, & Stams, G.J.J.M. (2014). The relation between empathy and offending: a meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19, 179–189. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.avb.2014.02.003
Lovett, B. J., & Sheffield, R. A. (2007). Affective empathy deficits in aggressive children and adolescents: a critical review. Clinical Psychological Review, 27, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.03.003
Lui. J. H., Barry. C. T., & Sacco. D. F. (2016). Callous-unemotional traits and empathy deficits: mediatin geffects of affective perspective-taking and facial emotion recognition.. Cognition and Emotion, 30(6), 1049-1062. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2015.1047327
Liu, J., Qiao, X., Dong, F., & Raine, A., (2018) The chinese version of the cognitive, affective, and somatic empathy scale for children: validation, gender invariance and associated factors. Plos One, 13(5), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195268
Marin, A. H., Silva, C. T. D., Andrade, E. I. D., Bernardes, J., & Fava, D. C. (2017). Competência socioemocional: conceitos e instrumentos associados. Revista Brasileira de Terapias Cognitivas, 13(2), 92-103. http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/1808-5687.20170014
Mitsopoulou, E., & Giovazolias, T. (2015). Personality traits, empathy and bullying behavior: a meta-analytic approach. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 21, 61-72. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.avb.2015.01.007
Morosan, L., Ghisletta, P., Badoud, D., Toffel, E., Eliez, S., & Debbané, M. (2020). Longitudinal relationships between reflective functioning, empathy, and externalizing behaviors during adolescence and young adulthood. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 51(1), 59-70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-019-00910-8
Murray, J., & Farrington, D. P. (2010). Risk factors for conduct disorder and delinquency: Key findings from longitudinal studies. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(10), 633-642. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674371005501003
Roberts, W., & Strayer, J. (1996). Empathy, emotional expressiveness, and prosocial behavior. Child Development, 67(2), 449–470. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/1131826
Rocha, M. M. (2012). Evidências de validade do “Inventário de Autoavaliação para Adolescentes” (YSR/2001) para a população brasileira. (Tese doutorado) Departamento de Psicologia Clínica, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Rocha, M. M., Rescorla, L. A., Emerich, D. R., Silvares, E. F. M., Borsa, J. C., Araújo, L. G., Assis, S. G. (2013). Behavioural/emotional problems in Brazilian children: findings from parents’ reports on the Child Behavior Checklist. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 22(4), 329-338. https://doi.org/10.1017/s2045796012000637
Rodrigues. M. C.& Ribeiro. N. N. (2011). Avaliação da empatia em crianças participantes e não participantes de um programa de desenvolvimento sociocognitivo. Psicologia: Teoria e Prática, 13(2), 114-126.
Schreiter, S., Pijnenborg, G. H. M., & Aan Het Rot, M. (2013). Empathy in adults with clinical or subclinical depressive symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.03.009
Silvares, E. F. D. M., Meyer, S. B., Santos, E. D. O. D., & Gerencer, T. T. (2006). Um estudo em cinco clínicas‑escolas brasileiras com a lista de verificação comportamental para crianças (CBCL). In: Silvares, E. F. M. (Org.). Atendimento psicológico em clínicas‑escola (pp. 59-72). Campinas: Alínea.
Silvares, E. F. de M., Rocha, M. M. da R., & Emerich, D. R. (2016). Inventário de Comportamento da Infância e da Adolescência (CBCL), Relatório para Professores (TRF), Inventário de Autoavaliação para Adolescentes (YSR). In C. Gorenstein, Y. P. Wang, & I. Hungerbühler (Eds.), Instrumentos de avaliação em saúde mental (pp. 331-336). Porto Alegre: Editora Artmed.
Telle, N. T., & Pfister, H. R. (2015). Positive empathy and prosocial behavior: a neglected link. Emotion Review, 8(2), 154–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073915586817
Tone, E. B., & Tully, E. C. (2014). Empathy as a “risky strength”: a multi-level examination of empathy and risk for internalizing disorders.. Development and Psychology, 26, 1547–1565. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579414001199
Van Noorden. T. H., Haselager. G. J., Cillessen. A. H., & Bukowski. W. M. (2015). Empathy and involvement in bullying in children and adolescents: a systematic review. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(3), 637-657. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0135-6
Waller, R., & Hyde, L. W. (2018). Callous-unemotional behaviors in early childhood: the development of empathy and prosociality go neawry. Current Opinion in Psychology, 20, 11-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.07.037
Wangby, M., Bergman, L. & Magnusson, D. (1999). Development of adjustment problems in girls: what syndromes emerge? Child Development, 70, 678-699. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00049
Zonneveld, L., Platje, E., de Sonneville, L., van Goozen, S., & Swaab, H. (2017). Affective empathy, cognitive empathy and social attention in children at high risk of criminal behaviour. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(8), 913-921. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12724
Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms, & profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont.
Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2004). Mental health practitioners' guide for the Achenbach System of Empiricall y Based Assessment (ASEBA) (4a ed.) Burlington: University of Vermont.
Alves, S. M. (2012). A relação entre capacidades empáticas, depressão e ansiedade em jovens. (Dissertação de Mestrado) Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia Social, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB.
Anselmi, L., Piccinini, C. A., Barros, F. C., & Lopes, R. S. (2004). Psychosocial determinants of behavior problems in Brazilian preschool children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(4), 779-788. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00271.x
Barnett, G., & Mann, R. E. (2013). Empathy deficits and sexual offending: a model of obstacles to empathy. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18(2), 228-239. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.avb.2012.11.010
Borsa, J. C., & Nunes, M. L. T. (2011). Prevalência de problemas de comportamento em uma amostra de crianças em idade escolar da cidade de Porto Alegre. Aletheia, 34, 32-46.
Borsa, J., Souza, D., & Bandeira, D. (2011). Prevalência de problemas de comportamento em uma amostra de crianças do Rio Grande do Sul. Psicologia: Teoria e Prática, 13(2), 15-29.
Bray, K., Pantelis, C., Anderson, V., & Whittle, S. L. (2018). Empathy and depressive symptoms during childhood: an investigation of neural mechanisms using resting state functional connectivity. Biological Psychiatry, 83(9), S147. https://doi.org10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.02.383
Ciucci, E., Baroncelli, A., Golmaryami, F., N, & Frick., P. J. (2015). The emotional correlates to callous–unemotional traits in children. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(8), 2374-2387. https:// https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-0040-3
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning – CASEL. (2017). Framework for systemic social and emotional learning. Recuperado de http://www.casel.org/what-is-sel
Cuff. B. M., Brown. S. J., Taylor L., &Howat, D. J. (2016). Empathy: a review of the concept. Emotion Review, 8(2), 144-153. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1754073914558466
Decety, J., & Svetlova, M. (2012). Putting together phylogenetic and ontogenetic perspectives on empathy. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2011.05.003
Denham, S. A. (1998). Emotional development in young children. New York: The Guilford Press.
Eysenck. M. W., & Keane. M. T. (2017). Manual de Psicologia Cognitiva. 7ª ed. Porto Alegre. RS: Artmed.
Frick P. J., & Ellis M. (1999). Callous-unemotional traits and subtypes of conduct disorder. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 2(3), 149–168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1021803005547
Frick P. J., & White, S. F. (2008). Research review: the importance of callous-unemotional traits for developmental models of aggressive and antisocial behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49(4), 359–375. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01862.x
Gambin, M., & Sharp, C. (2016). The differential relations between and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in inpatient adolescents. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 47(6), 966–974. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-016-0625-8
Green, L. M., Missotten, L., Tone, E. B., & Luyckx, K. (2018). Empathy, depressive symptoms, and selfesteem in adolescence: the moderating role of the mother–adolescente relationship. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(12), 3964-3974. https:// https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1216-z
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(5), 531-546. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.5.531
Justo, A. R., Carvalho, J. C. N., & Kristensen, C. H. (2014). Desenvolvimento da empatia em crianças: a influência dos estilos parentais. Psicologia, Saúde & Doenças, 15(2), 510-523.
Kardos, P., Leidner, B., Pléh, C., Soltész, P., &Unoka, Z. (2017). Empathic people have more friends: empathic abilities predict social network size and position in social network predicts empathic efforts. Social Networks, 50, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2017.01.004
Kirst-Conceição, A. de C., & Martinelli, S. de C. (2014). Análises psicométricas iniciais de uma escala de empatia infanto-juvenil (EEmpa-IJ). Avaliação Psicológica, 13(3), 351-358.
Langen, M.A.M. van, Wissink, I.B., Vugt, E.S. van, Stouwe, T. Van der, & Stams, G.J.J.M. (2014). The relation between empathy and offending: a meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19, 179–189. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.avb.2014.02.003
Lovett, B. J., & Sheffield, R. A. (2007). Affective empathy deficits in aggressive children and adolescents: a critical review. Clinical Psychological Review, 27, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.03.003
Lui. J. H., Barry. C. T., & Sacco. D. F. (2016). Callous-unemotional traits and empathy deficits: mediatin geffects of affective perspective-taking and facial emotion recognition.. Cognition and Emotion, 30(6), 1049-1062. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2015.1047327
Liu, J., Qiao, X., Dong, F., & Raine, A., (2018) The chinese version of the cognitive, affective, and somatic empathy scale for children: validation, gender invariance and associated factors. Plos One, 13(5), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195268
Marin, A. H., Silva, C. T. D., Andrade, E. I. D., Bernardes, J., & Fava, D. C. (2017). Competência socioemocional: conceitos e instrumentos associados. Revista Brasileira de Terapias Cognitivas, 13(2), 92-103. http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/1808-5687.20170014
Mitsopoulou, E., & Giovazolias, T. (2015). Personality traits, empathy and bullying behavior: a meta-analytic approach. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 21, 61-72. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.avb.2015.01.007
Morosan, L., Ghisletta, P., Badoud, D., Toffel, E., Eliez, S., & Debbané, M. (2020). Longitudinal relationships between reflective functioning, empathy, and externalizing behaviors during adolescence and young adulthood. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 51(1), 59-70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-019-00910-8
Murray, J., & Farrington, D. P. (2010). Risk factors for conduct disorder and delinquency: Key findings from longitudinal studies. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(10), 633-642. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674371005501003
Roberts, W., & Strayer, J. (1996). Empathy, emotional expressiveness, and prosocial behavior. Child Development, 67(2), 449–470. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/1131826
Rocha, M. M. (2012). Evidências de validade do “Inventário de Autoavaliação para Adolescentes” (YSR/2001) para a população brasileira. (Tese doutorado) Departamento de Psicologia Clínica, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Rocha, M. M., Rescorla, L. A., Emerich, D. R., Silvares, E. F. M., Borsa, J. C., Araújo, L. G., Assis, S. G. (2013). Behavioural/emotional problems in Brazilian children: findings from parents’ reports on the Child Behavior Checklist. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 22(4), 329-338. https://doi.org/10.1017/s2045796012000637
Rodrigues. M. C.& Ribeiro. N. N. (2011). Avaliação da empatia em crianças participantes e não participantes de um programa de desenvolvimento sociocognitivo. Psicologia: Teoria e Prática, 13(2), 114-126.
Schreiter, S., Pijnenborg, G. H. M., & Aan Het Rot, M. (2013). Empathy in adults with clinical or subclinical depressive symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.03.009
Silvares, E. F. D. M., Meyer, S. B., Santos, E. D. O. D., & Gerencer, T. T. (2006). Um estudo em cinco clínicas‑escolas brasileiras com a lista de verificação comportamental para crianças (CBCL). In: Silvares, E. F. M. (Org.). Atendimento psicológico em clínicas‑escola (pp. 59-72). Campinas: Alínea.
Silvares, E. F. de M., Rocha, M. M. da R., & Emerich, D. R. (2016). Inventário de Comportamento da Infância e da Adolescência (CBCL), Relatório para Professores (TRF), Inventário de Autoavaliação para Adolescentes (YSR). In C. Gorenstein, Y. P. Wang, & I. Hungerbühler (Eds.), Instrumentos de avaliação em saúde mental (pp. 331-336). Porto Alegre: Editora Artmed.
Telle, N. T., & Pfister, H. R. (2015). Positive empathy and prosocial behavior: a neglected link. Emotion Review, 8(2), 154–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073915586817
Tone, E. B., & Tully, E. C. (2014). Empathy as a “risky strength”: a multi-level examination of empathy and risk for internalizing disorders.. Development and Psychology, 26, 1547–1565. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579414001199
Van Noorden. T. H., Haselager. G. J., Cillessen. A. H., & Bukowski. W. M. (2015). Empathy and involvement in bullying in children and adolescents: a systematic review. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(3), 637-657. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0135-6
Waller, R., & Hyde, L. W. (2018). Callous-unemotional behaviors in early childhood: the development of empathy and prosociality go neawry. Current Opinion in Psychology, 20, 11-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.07.037
Wangby, M., Bergman, L. & Magnusson, D. (1999). Development of adjustment problems in girls: what syndromes emerge? Child Development, 70, 678-699. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00049
Zonneveld, L., Platje, E., de Sonneville, L., van Goozen, S., & Swaab, H. (2017). Affective empathy, cognitive empathy and social attention in children at high risk of criminal behaviour. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(8), 913-921. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12724
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2021-12-28
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Machado, B. M., Vieira, B. S., & Marin, A. H. (2021). Empathy and child emotional and behavioral problems. Estudos Interdisciplinares Em Psicologia, 12(3), 119–136. https://doi.org/10.5433/2236-6407.2021v12n3p119
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