This longitudinal study examined the association between communication in the family on the development of empathy in young children. Co-regulation and family expressiveness measured communication in parent-child dyads at age 12 months (N = 186), 24 months (N = 100), and 36 months (N = 78). A follow-up was conducted at 60 months (N = 47) to measure empathy-related responding in children. Co-regulation styles change over time, generally increasing in the most engaged, two-way style of communication (symmetrical) and decreasing in one-sided and less engaged types. Greater family expressiveness predicted higher levels of empathy as observed in an empathy-eliciting experiment, but not as measured by mother interview, questionnaire, or child's response to facial expressions. In addition, empathy was not associated with the change in symmetrical co-regulation. The results of this study indicate that open, emotional family communication may be more important in the development of empathy than the style of dyadic communication.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BGMYU2/oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-6649 |
| Date | 01 November 2015 |
| Creators | Stone, Sarah Ann |
| Publisher | BYU ScholarsArchive |
| Source Sets | Brigham Young University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/ |
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