Parental relationships and prosocial behaviour: the mediating role of empathy

Abstract

Prosocial behaviour plays a fundamental role in children's development and is essential for the quality of social interactions. Although existing literature highlights the importance of early parental relationships, the distinct contributions of maternal and paternal figures to children's pro-social behaviour remain insufficiently explored, as do the mechanisms underlying these associations, such as empathy. The present study aimed to examine a mediation model in which the quality of father-child and mother-child relationships is associated with children's prosocial behaviour, considering empathy as a mediating variable. The sample consisted of 247 children aged 3 to 7 years attending preschool education. Data were collected using a multi-informant design, based on empirically validated instruments. The results showed that higher levels of parental warmth, both maternal and paternal, were positively associated with children's empathy and prosocial behaviour. Furthermore, empathy was found to partially mediate the association between parental warmth and prosocial behaviour. These findings contribute to a more integrated understanding of the socio-emotional processes underlying prosocial behaviour in early childhood. They also highlight the importance of fostering parental warmth as a pathway to promote children's empathic development and, consequently, their prosocial behaviour.