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Emotional Involvement with Grandparents as a Key Component of Prosocial Development: Testing Empathic Concern as a Mediator

Current research shows that grandparents have made significant contributions to at-risk families. However, few studies have examined the benefits of grandparenting in non-at-risk populations. This study considered whether emotional involvement with a grandparent is associated with prosocial behavior in adolescent grandchildren and examines the mediating role of empathy and perspective taking. A longitudinal sample of 500 participants were taken from waves two thru five of the Flourishing Families Project (FFP) and used to construct a latent growth curve model. Results indicate that emotional involvement with a grandparent was positively linked with initial levels of prosocial behavior in grandchildren. Furthermore, results indicated that empathy and perspective taking partially mediated the connection between grandparent's involvement and the initial levels of prosocial behavior in their grandchildren. Discussion focuses on the distinct contribution grandparents give to families.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BGMYU2/oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-5062
Date14 June 2013
CreatorsGustafson, Kathryn Leigh Bunnell
PublisherBYU ScholarsArchive
Source SetsBrigham Young University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceTheses and Dissertations
Rightshttp://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

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