학술논문
Empathy and psychopathology in children and adolescents: the role of parental mental illness and emotion regulation
Document Type
article
Author
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; 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
Source
Frontiers in Psychiatry, Vol 15 (2024)
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
1664-0640
Abstract
ObjectiveAlthough 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.MethodsParticipants 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.ResultsGreater 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.ConclusionOur findings highlight the importance of implementing preventive programs for COPMI that specifically target the reduction of maladaptive ER.