The ability to relate positively to other persons in an important aspect of development. One indicator of this achievement is the child's capacity for empathy and ability to help or share with another person. The purposes of this study are to: (1) examine 5- 9 year old children's generosity in a laboratory measure of sharing and also in a naturalistic setting with their younger siblings; and (2) explore proximal and distal correlates of generosity and sharing, and their relation to parental diagnostic status (affectively disturbed or normal). (3) There is also a methodological interest in comparing the standard laboratory measure of sharing that has been the basis of the majority of studies of sharing with measures of sharing in the context of the child's family interactions. This study uses data collected during the first phase of a longitudinal study a child rearing and parental affective disorders.
