Empathy and prosocial behaviour in early childhood: A review

Abstract

The ability to empathise and understand others' emotions has been shown to have an impact on social interactions and prosocial behaviours. The objective of this review was to exploring the effect of parental empathy on the development of early childhood empathy and prosocial development. Seven databases were searched, including Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, Pubmed, Science Direct and Google Scholar. A quality assessment rating showed studies relatively strong in methodology. The findings highlighted the association between empathetic parenting and the development of prosocial behaviour and empathy in early childhood. Research concluded that the quality of parental empathy was important alongside the increasing age of the child. Clinical studies would aid understanding into parental empathy, child empathy and prosocial behaviours.