Research Project: The capacity to empathize is a core component of social-emotional competence (CASEL, 2019). Across development, empathy is linked to beneficial social outcomes, whereas the lack of empathy is implicated in externalizing problems in childhood, bullying in adolescence, and child abuse in adulthood (Burke, 2001; Eisenberg, 2017; van Noorden, Haselager, Cillessen, & Bukowski, 2015). From a health perspective, identifying factors that support empathy is critical for understanding and nurturing positive social functioning across the life span. One factor thought to support the development of empathy is parent-child attachment. The objective of the proposed project is to address key gaps in the empathy literature by examining the contribution of attachment to empathy during two sensitive periods of development: infancy and adolescence. Study 1 tests whether infant attachment at 12 months predicts empathy at 18 months (Aim 1) and examines two novel mediators of this link, grounded in attachment theory: internal working models and neurocognitive mechanisms (Aim 2). Participants will include 120 infants and their caregivers. Caregivers will complete the widely used Attachment Q-Sort (Waters & Deane, 1985); six months later, infants? observed responses to two naturalistic simulations of distress (an experimenter?s physical pain and sadness) will be coded for empathy. Internal working models will be measured using an innovative visual habituation paradigm that taps infants? expectations of caregiver responsiveness (Johnson et al., 2010), and infants? neural and attentional responses to emotion will be recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and eye- tracking while viewing emotional faces. Study 2 uses pre-existing data from a longitudinal study to test whether attachment predicts empathy development across adolescence. Participants include 185 adolescents who completed the gold standard Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996) at age 14 and engaged in a problem-solving discussion with a peer at ages 14, 15, 16, and 17; empathy will be coded from these observed peer interactions. The proposed project brings an attachment theoretical perspective to understanding empathy development, sheds light on the mechanisms by which parenting contributes to empathy during sensitive periods of development, and provides important information about the relationship factors contributing to empathy that can inform future research and intervention efforts. Training Plan and Environment: Post-doctoral training will help launch PI Stern?s career as a developmental scientist invested in understanding how social relationships shape child and adolescent outcomes. The resource-rich context of University of Virginia provides extensive opportunities for coursework and professional development to build new skills for conducting cutting-edge neurobiological and behavioral research. The combined mentorship of three experts in infant social brain development (Dr. Grossmann), empathy (Dr. Vaish), and adolescent attachment (Dr. Allen) will provide key support for Dr. Stern?s research career.
Public Health Relevance: Across development, empathy has been robustly linked to beneficial social outcomes, from cooperation and resource sharing in early childhood to prosocial moral reasoning and helping behavior in adolescence. Conversely, the lack of empathy is implicated in many of the most urgent developmental issues facing society: externalizing problems in childhood, bullying and school violence in adolescence, and sexual coercion and child abuse in adulthood. This project examines the role of a key parenting factor?parent-child attachment security?in promoting empathy in infancy and adolescence; in doing so, it has the potential to inform intervention efforts to promote social-emotional competence and to build a more compassionate, peaceful society.
