Empathy and psychopathology in children and adolescents: the role of parental mental illness and emotion regulation
Objective: Although empathy is known to be a strength, recent studies suggest that empathy can be a risk factor for psychopathology under certain conditions in children. This study examines parental mental illness as such a condition. Further, it aims to investigate whether maladaptive emotion regul...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
Frontiers in psychiatry
Year: 2024, Volume: 15, Pages: 1-13 |
| ISSN: | 1664-0640 |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1366366 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1366366 Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1366366/full |
| Author Notes: | Arleta A. Luczejko, Klara Hagelweide, Rudolf Stark, Sarah Weigelt, Hanna Christiansen, Meinhard Kieser, Kathleen Otto, Corinna Reck, Ricarda Steinmayr, Linda Wirthwein, Anna-Lena Zietlow, Christina Schwenck and the COMPARE-family research group, Stracke, Gilbert, Eitenmüller, Awounvo, Kirchner, Klose, Buntrock, Ebert, Schlarb, Margraf, Schneider, Friedrich, Teismann, Stark, Metzger, Brakemeier, Wardenga, Hauck, Glombiewski, Schröder, Heider, Jungmann, Witthöft, Rief, Eitenmüller |
| Summary: | Objective: Although empathy is known to be a strength, recent studies suggest that empathy can be a risk factor for psychopathology under certain conditions in children. This study examines parental mental illness as such a condition. Further, it aims to investigate whether maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) mediates the relationship between empathy and psychopathological symptoms of children. Methods: Participants were 100 children of parents with a mental illness (55% female) and 87 children of parents without a mental illness (50% female) aged 6 - 16 years and their parents. Results: Greater cognitive empathy was related to more psychopathological symptoms in COPMI, but not in COPWMI. In addition, in COPMI maladaptive ER mediated this relationship. In contrast, greater affective empathy was associated with more psychopathological symptoms regardless of whether parents had a mental illness. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the importance of implementing preventive programs for COPMI that specifically target the reduction of maladaptive ER. |
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| Item Description: | Online veröffentlicht: 8. April 2024 Gesehen am 25.09.2024 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1664-0640 |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1366366 |