A new study finds that in the early years of life, aggressive and disruptive children can show concern for the welfare of others. However, this concern can decrease as the children reach school age. The study appears in the September issue of Developmental Psychology, a journal published by the American Psychological Association (APA). The study also shows that environmental factors such as warm and supportive parenting may play a role in promoting children's prosocial development.

Researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health and at the University of Colorado at Boulder followed three groups of children from preschool into the elementary school years. These children initially had low, moderate or high levels of aggressive and disruptive behaviors. When the children were four and-a-half and six and-a-half years old, their responses were observed while their mothers and a female experimenter pretended to injure their foot while dropping some objects on the floor. In each case, the adult winced or grimaced, vocally expressed pain and rubbed the injured area. In addition, at six and-a-half years, mothers, teachers and the children answered questions about the children's concern.

The investigation revealed that at preschool age, aggressive and disruptive children showed just as much concern in their responses to adults' distress as did children with fewer problems. However, the concern for others of the children with the highest levels of problem behaviors underwent dynamic and worrisome changes over the following two years. These children's concerned responses actually decreased from preschool to elementary school. The most aggressive and disruptive children were also described by mothers, teachers and themselves, as being the least prosocial.

Although deficits in concern for others' well-being are not readily detectable in preschool-aged children with high levels of behavior problems, the study found differences in how children responded to adults' simulations of injuries. "Despite being just as prosocial as other preschool-aged children," said the authors, aggressive and disruptive boys "displayed more active disregard for others (e.g., anger, avoidance, amusement by another's distress) which differs markedly from the simple absence of concern." This disregard may be an early indicator of the callousness that often characterizes antisocial behavior in adolescents and adults.

The authors noted that not all of the highly aggressive and disruptive children's concern for others decreased, and that children with early behavior problems actually improved from preschool to elementary school age when they had higher levels of concern. These children may have become less antisocial because they were distressed by the fact that their actions harmed others. Concern for others may make it possible for children to take responsibility for their actions, according to the researchers.

"Our results also show important links between parenting style and children's prosocial development," said the authors. "The present results clearly suggest that mothers who are overly strict and harshly punitive, who do not tend to reason or establish reasonable and consistent rules, and who strongly show their anger or disappointment with their children, are likely to impede their children's prosocial development." This relationship was true for both children with and without behavior problems. Conversely, children had greater concern for others when mothers were warm, used reasoning and set appropriate guidelines and avoided the use of harsh punishments. One process that could account for this pattern is that "angry, authoritarian parenting could be interpreted by the children as a lack of care or concern on the part of their parents," said the authors. Although fathers were not looked at in this study, the authors say future studies should consider how fathers might influence children's concern for others.

Gender differences were also found to play a role in concern for others. In all three groups, girls showed more concern than boys did. This supports prior research showing that, from the second year of life through adolescence, girls express more empathy than do boys, according to the authors.

Citing research that shows genetics play a significant role in empathic and prosocial development, the authors speculate that biological factors could also contribute to the changes in concern observed in the high-risk children. This, they say, is something future research should address.

Reference: "The Development of Concern for Others in Children With Behavior Problems," Paul D. Hastings, Ph.D., and Carolyn Zahn-Waxler, Ph.D., JoAnn Robinson, Ph.D., Barbara Usher, Ph.D., and Dana Bridges; Developmental Psychology, Vol. 36, No. 5.

01/06/01