PSY105 CSU Global Mod5 Parents with Long Term Illnesses Children Paper The hospital is a far distance from where the family lives, and the parent/parents i

PSY105 CSU Global Mod5 Parents with Long Term Illnesses Children Paper The hospital is a far distance from where the family lives, and the parent/parents is/are unable to stay nearby to visit the child daily/weekly.
Finances (and familial relations such as marriage or co-custody) are strained by the cost of treatment and/or there are other children in the home needing care.
Ill children often feel abandoned and act-out, often rejecting the parent(s), who, in turn, may feel guilty and fail to discipline the children properly.

Paper Instructions:

Write a two to three page paper, not including the reference or title pages.

Reference the following material: Journal of Personality ••:••,
2014
83:2, ••
April
2015
Empathy Development in Adolescence
Predicts Social Competencies
in Adulthood
C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
©
V
Inc.
DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12098
10.1111/jopy.12098
Mathias Allemand, Andrea E. Steiger, and
Helmut A. Fend
University of Zurich
Abstract
This 23-year study explored the predictive associations between empathy development in adolescence and self-reported social
competencies and outcomes in adulthood. Participants were 1,527 adults aged 35 years (48.3% female).The predictor variable
(adolescent empathy) was measured yearly at the ages of 12 to 16 years.The outcome variables (adult empathy, communication
skills, social integration, relationship satisfaction, and conflicts in relationships) were measured at the age of 35 years. Five
important results stand out. First, longitudinal measurement invariance was established for the measure of adolescent empathy.
Second, empathy tended to increase during the adolescent years.Third, significant interindividual differences in level and change
of adolescent empathy were found. Fourth, gender was related to level of adolescent empathy, favoring girls over boys. Fifth,
not only level but also change in adolescent empathy predicted individual differences in social competencies in adulthood two
decades later. These findings demonstrate that developmental processes that are relevant for adjustment reveal long-term
social consequences beyond the adolescent years.
Empathy is the ability to share and understand others’
thoughts and feelings (Eisenberg & Fabes, 1990; Hoffman,
2000). This ability is important for promoting positive behaviors toward others and facilitating social interactions and
congenial relationships (McDonald & Messinger, 2011).
Previous research suggests positive associations between
pro-social tendencies and both situationally induced and dispositional empathy-related responses. For example, adolescents who report higher empathy also report more pro-social
goals, are socially more competent, are less aggressive, have
more supportive peer relationships, are well liked by their
peers, and are more likely to help others (Eisenberg, Morris,
McDaniel, & Spinrad, 2009). Moreover, adult empathy has
been linked to a wide array of pro-social correlates. For
example, adults who report higher empathy are more willing
to volunteer (Davis et al., 1999), donate more to charity
(Wilhelm & Bekkers, 2010), and are more grateful to others
(McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002). Empathy also
appears to enhance forgiveness in individuals (McCullough,
Worthington, & Rachal, 1997) and couples (Paleari, Regalia,
& Fincham, 2005). It is unsurprising, then, that higher
empathy enables individuals to relate to others in a way that
promotes cooperative, pro-social, and satisfying relationships
rather than conflicted, antisocial, and unpleasant interactions
with others. However, it is unclear whether change in
empathy may have long-term consequences on social
outcome variables over and above the empathy level. Thus,
this study examined the predictive associations between
empathy development in adolescence and social competencies and outcomes in adulthood, well beyond the adolescent
years.
Empathy Development in Adolescence
Evidence for empathy as a developmental construct comes
from intervention and developmental studies. First, empathy
can be experimentally manipulated or changed with teaching
and practice over relatively short periods of time. For example,
studies have shown that empathy trainings promote emotional
This article is based on data from the LifE-Study: Helmut Fend, Werner
Georg, Fred Berger, Urs Grob, Wolfgang Lauterbach: Lebensverläufe von
der späten Kindheit ins frühe Erwachsenenalter (LifE). Die Bedeutung von
Erziehungserfahrungen und Entwicklungsprozessen für die
Lebensbewältigung—Follow-Up zur Konstanzer Jugendlängsschnittstudie
“Entwicklung im Jugendalter” (Dataset, Universität Zürich, Universität
Konstanz, Universität Potsdam. Distributed by FORS, Lausanne,
2010). Preparation of this article was supported, in part, by a grant
(CRSI11_130432/1) from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
Mathias Allemand, University of Zurich, Department of Psychology,
Binzmühlestrasse 14/24, CH-8050 Zurich, Switzerland. Email:
m.allemand@psychologie.uzh.ch.
230
competencies in school-aged children (Greenberg, Kusche,
Cook, & Quamma, 1995) and helping skills and pro-social
motivation in delinquent youth (Gibbs, Potter, Barriga, & Liau,
1996). Empathy trainings also increase pro-social behaviors in
adults (Leiberg, Klimecki, & Singer, 2011). Second, there is
emerging evidence for normative changes in empathy over
longer periods of time. Research demonstrates that empathyrelated abilities emerge in the early years of life and develop in
more complex forms in childhood and adolescence (Eisenberg,
Spinrad, & Morris, 2013; McDonald & Messinger, 2011).
Empathy changes were also evidenced in emerging adulthood
(Eisenberg et al., 2002; Konrath, O’Brien, & Hsing, 2011), and
from early adulthood to old age (O’Brien, Konrath, Grühn, &
Hagen, 2013). Moreover, research demonstrates individual differences in the degree and direction of empathy development
(Grühn, Rebucal, Diehl, Lumley, & Labouvie-Vief, 2008).
Although the literature supports the claim that empathy is
malleable across the entire life span, adolescence is an important developmental period that seems particularly essential for
empathy development for several reasons. Adolescence has
traditionally been conceived as a transitional period, characterized by a number of physical and physiological changes in
such characteristics as height, weight, body proportions, and
hormones, combined with individual, social, and contextual
transitions (Blakemore & Mills, 2014; Steinberg & Morris,
2001; Zarrett & Eccles, 2006). Many of these changes and
challenges have important implications for empathy development. For example, improvements in abstract thinking in
tandem with socioemotional changes such as increased
emotion regulation abilities promote pro-social tendencies and
empathy (Eisenberg, Fabes, & Spinrad, 2006). Changes in
moral reasoning are also important with respect to empathy
development. Adolescents increasingly develop internalized
abstract moral and social principles that promote pro-social
and responsible behaviors, and they have more opportunities to
help others by means of volunteering activities (Eisenberg
et al., 2006; Hoffman, 2000). Finally, normative changes in
social relationships with peers and adults in tandem with
increases in autonomy with respect to social behaviors and
values provide opportunities to show pro-social behaviors such
as empathy-related responding (Zarrett & Eccles, 2006). Furthermore, teachers and parents often give adolescents more
autonomy in order to let them gradually grow into adult societal roles (Steinberg, 2008). These tasks let adolescents take
over responsibility for their own actions and, in turn, might
promote responsible and pro-social behavior. Based on these
theoretical assumptions, there is good reason to expect continued increase in empathy across the adolescent years.
The literature on empathy development from ages 12 to 16,
however, is limited, and empirical findings are inconsistent.
There is evidence for normative increases in pro-social tendencies and behaviors from childhood to adolescence (Eisenberg
& Fabes, 1998), although not from early (ages 13 to 15) to later
(ages 16 to 18) adolescence (Fabes, Carlo, Kumpanoff, &
Laible, 1999). Moreover, the evidenced age trends were depen-
Allemand, Steiger,
Steiger, &
& Fend
dent on the study design (e.g., correlational or experimental
studies), the method of assessment (e.g., self-report, otherreport, observation), and the target of pro-social behavior (e.g.,
peers or adults; Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). For example, prosocial behaviors such as sharing or donating were more pronounced in adolescents compared to children aged 7 to 12
years, but not with respect to instrumental helping or comforting. Some findings indicated that pro-social behavior directed
toward adults did not change in adolescence (cf. Eisenberg &
Fabes, 1998). Other studies reported decreases in pro-social
tendencies from early to middle adolescence (Carlo, Crockett,
Randall, & Roesch, 2007), and slight increases in late adolescence and early adulthood (Eisenberg, Cumberland, Guthrie,
Murphy, & Shepard, 2005). A recent longitudinal study of
adolescents aged 13 at the first assessment found that selfreported pro-social behaviors (i.e., sharing, helping, and
caring) decreased until late adolescence and then slightly
rebounded after age 21 (Kanacri, Pastorelli, Eisenberg,
Zuffiano, & Caprara, 2013). In contrast, there is also some
evidence for a modest positive age trend in empathy across the
adolescent years, with older adolescents being more empathic
than younger adolescents (cf. Eisenberg et al., 2009).
Even less is known about individual differences in the
degree and direction of empathy development during the adolescent years, as adolescents may differ in their management of
the manifold changes related to adolescence (Zarrett & Eccles,
2006). Whereas some adolescents successfully manage these
challenges, other adolescents find the transition to adulthood
more difficult. Such differences might lead to significant individual differences in empathy development. Accordingly, it
becomes a question for research whether these individual differences in change are related to adult outcomes.
Long-Term Consequences of Adolescent
Empathy Development
Adolescence represents a unique window into developmental
changes that might have long-term consequences for the individual well beyond the adolescent years. As such, it has often
been described as a time of heightened vulnerability for the
onset of later adaptation problems in social and emotional
domains (Steinberg, 2005). Most adolescents have the personal, emotional, and social resources to successfully explore
and interact with the manifold challenges of this period.
However, some adolescents have not and engage in unhealthy
and risky behaviors, such as drug abuse, unsafe sex, school
underachievement, and delinquency. These behaviors might
have long-term consequences for the individual, such as motherhood or fatherhood as a result of teenage pregnancy or lower
educational attainment in adulthood due to underachievement
at school and learning difficulties (cf. Lerner & Galambos,
1998).
The adolescent years also provide opportunities to develop
and exercise social competencies and skills, attitudes, and
Adolescent Empathy and Adult
Adult Outcomes
Outcomes
social values that are necessary to make a successful transition into adulthood and that will help them to become caring
and responsible adults (Erikson, 1968; Zarrett & Eccles,
2006). The adults who emerge from adolescence must be
equipped with skills and competencies to navigate the social
complexities of adult life. During this time period, adolescents typically experience shifts in their relationship to
parents from dependency to autonomy and increasing responsibilities in the family and community. For example, the opinions of peers become more important than those of family
members (Larson, Richards, Moneta, Holmbeck, & Duckett,
1996). Adolescents are also exposed to novel social situations, and they explore new social roles and experience their
first intimate partnerships. As such, adolescence might represent a period of enhanced sensitivity for social experiences in
the environment that might motivate certain behaviors, such
as empathy-related responding (Blakemore & Mills, 2014).
Indeed, the ability to share and understand others’ thoughts
and feelings is particularly important in this respect, as
it facilitates positive social interactions with others and
effective understanding and communication (McDonald &
Messinger, 2011).
Social relationships provide excellent opportunities to practice and display pro-social skills and competencies such as
empathy and thus to receive constructive feedback from
others. Such reciprocal processes may then promote social
competencies and help to build long-lasting social resources.
Therefore, the acquisition of skills, attitudes, and values
needed to make a successful transition into adulthood—
including partnership, parenting, work, and citizenship—are
important challenges in adolescence. In particular, empathy
might positively affect future social relationships, including
romantic relationships. Imagining others’ thoughts and feelings promotes behaviors that are adaptive in social relationships, such as sharing, caring, helping, and active listening
(e.g., Caprara, Alessandri, & Eisenberg, 2012; Eisenberg &
Fabes, 1990; Graziano, Habashi, Sheese, & Tobin, 2007).
Taken together, empathy development across the adolescent
years is important because it might help in building (unsupervised) extrafamilial peer relationships, maintaining friendships, and developing strong communities.
Despite the social benefits of empathy, very high levels or
very low levels of empathy can be costly (e.g., Hodges &
Biswas-Diener, 2007; Hoffman, 2000). For example, high
empathy might lead to empathic distress, as sharing and
understanding others’ concerns and negativity is consuming
on the emotional level. Empathic distress then may result in
an egoistic motivation to reduce this distress (e.g., by avoiding the stressor) and thus decrease the capacity to be of assistance to others and to show pro-social behaviors (Decety &
Lamm, 2009). Low empathy might have adverse effects as
well, as it makes social interactions and relationships more
difficult. Research has consistently demonstrated that those
individuals who score low in empathy tend to show more
aggressive and violent behaviors, bullying, and more conflicts
3
231
with others (e.g., Gini, Albiero, Benelli, & Altoè, 2007;
Jolliffe & Farrington, 2004). Individuals with low empathy
cannot imagine the potential harm and consequences that they
might cause. As such, low empathy is related to antisocial
behaviors.
In addition, it has been suggested that the adolescent years
are particularly formative years for moral personality development that continues across the life span (Hill & Roberts, 2010),
and that empathy plays an important role in moral behavior
and development (Hoffman, 2000; Tangney, Stuewig, &
Mashek, 2007). As research demonstrates associations
between empathy-related responses and morally relevant
behaviors such as helping behaviors (e.g., Eisenberg et al.,
2009), changes in empathy would have clear ramifications for
moral behavior and possibly for what individuals view as
moral or not. For example, it is during adolescence that individuals are beginning to engage in adultlike activities, such as
community service. These activities reflect adult society.
Engagement in such activities and behaviors provides meaningful opportunities for adolescents to explore their identity
and potential social roles in society (Youniss, McLellan, Su, &
Yates, 1999). The ability to understand others’ thoughts and
feelings is particularly important in the engagement of social
activities and roles, as it includes an explicit focus on others.
This idea is related to the social investment theory, suggesting
that greater investment in social roles should promote adaptive
personality development (e.g., increases in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability; Roberts & Wood,
2006). In turn, individuals with an adaptive personality profile
are better suited for engagement in society (Lodi-Smith &
Roberts, 2007).
In summary, theory suggests that empathy contributes to
positive social interactions and socially skilled behavior.
However, it is unclear whether adolescent empathy development has consequences for social adjustment beyond the adolescent years. So far, no study has investigated whether
individual differences in empathy development in adolescence
have long-term social consequences in adulthood.
Goals and Hypotheses of the Current Study
This 23-year study examined the predictive associations
between adolescent empathy development and social outcome
variables in adulthood. We had four specific goals, whereby the
first goal reflected a prerequisite for the other goals. The first
goal was to establish longitudinal measurement invariance of
the empathy measure to ensure that the construct is comparable across measurement occasions (Meredith & Horn, 2001).
Frequently, in developmental studies, it is implicitly assumed
that the measurement process of constructs is similar over
time. But changes can only be unambiguously interpreted as a
reflection of a developmental process when items of a questionnaire do not change connotation or contribution to the
construct over time. Therefore, establishing measurement
2432
invariance is an essential prerequisite for the study of constructs over time (e.g., Allemand, Zimprich, & Hertzog, 2007;
Meredith & Horn, 2001).
The second goal was to examine empathy development
across the adolescent years by means of latent growth models
(e.g., Bollen & Curran, 2006). Based on previous findings
(Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998; Eisenberg et al., 2009), we
expected an average positive age trend in empathy during
adolescence. More importantly, we expected individual differences in the degree and direction of empathy development, as
individuals may begin at different initial levels and show different developmental trajectories or rates of change.
The third goal was to examine whether gender explains
individual differences in empathy development. Due to social
expectations and gender stereotypes, it is possible that girls are
more encouraged to develop empathic skills and display
greater empathy than boys (e.g., Kite, Deaux, & Haines, 2008).
Indeed, it appears that in adolescence, girls view themselves as
being more pro-social and empathic, and they also engage in
more pro-social and caring behaviors than do boys (e.g.,
Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). Therefore, we expected gender
differences in empathy development, favoring girls over boys.
The fourth goal of this study was to explore whether individual differences in empathy development in adolescence are
related to self-reported social competencies (e.g., adult
empathy, communication skills) and social outcomes in adulthood (e.g., perceived social integration, relationship satisfaction, conflicts in relationships). Social competencies reflect
relatively enduring tendencies to react in socially competent
ways to others. As such, we expected that adolescent empathy
would be modestly related to adult empathy, as the ability to
empathize with others during the adolescent years may be an
important contributor of social competencies in adulthood. We
also expected that adolescent empathy is relevant for basic
communication skills in relationships, such as active listening
or self-reflection, as good communication skills typically
require the ability to share and understand others’ perspectives.
Support for the assumption that adolescent empathy is related
to adult social competencies comes from research demonstrating that personality traits observed in childhood and adolescence predict adult behaviors and outcomes (Nave, Sherman,
Funder, Hampson, & Goldberg, 2010; Roberts, Kuncel,
Shiner, Caspi, & Goldberg, 2007). Besides the empathy level
in adolescence, we also considered change in empathy as an
important predictor of social competencies, as adolescence is a
time of “reorganization” and a time period to experiment with
new social roles and experiences that allow and foster the
development of empathy (e.g., Steinberg, 2005). Therefore,
independent of initial empathy level, change in empathy
should be related to these social competencies in adulthood.
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