Carolyn Zahn‐waxler
Biographic Data
| ID | 4000386 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Carolyn Zahn‐waxler |
| GIVEN NAMES | Carolyn |
| FAMILY NAME | Zahn‐waxler |
| SIGNATURE | WAXLER C Z |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 41 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 468 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 41 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1977 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Parasympathetic reactivity to recalled emotional experiences and adolescent prosociality
Prosociality, which refers to dispositions to allocate one's attention and energy to the needs of others, is indicative of social proficiency and adaptive functioning in adolescence. Greater abilities for self-regulation in adolescence are widely considered to foster prosociality (Hastings et al., 2023; Hodge et al., 2023), including physiological regulation, and particularly activity within the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS; Hastings et al…
Empathy as a Risky Strength: Associations With Parent and Child Depressive Symptoms in Middle Childhood
Healthy human relationships incorporate empathy; yet empathy may sometimes be a risky strength. Here we examine whether links between parent and child depressive symptoms are moderated by child empathy in early school age children. Children's empathy (empathic concern and hypothesis testing) and empathy‐related responding (personal distress and prosocial behaviors) were observed during a structured laboratory task during which an examiner showed …
Developmental trajectories of empathic concern in infancy and their links to social competence in early childhood
BACKGROUND: Empathic concern is an important component of children's social competence. Yet, little is known about the role of the development of concern for others during infancy as a predictor of social competence in early childhood. METHODS: Israeli infants (N = 165, 50% girls) were observed five times, from 3 to 36 months. Empathic concern was assessed at ages 3-18 months using observations, and four components of social competence were asses…
Predicting externalizing behavior in toddlerhood from early individual differences in empathy
BACKGROUND: From middle childhood onward, there is often a negative link between empathy and externalizing behavior problems. Patterns at younger ages are still unclear, with mixed findings of no association, negative associations, and positive associations. This study examines links between empathy and externalizing problems, beginning in infancy. METHODS: A community sample of infants (N = 165) was assessed for empathy at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 36 m…
Early pubertal maturation and externalizing behaviors: Examination of peer delinquency as mediator and cognitive flexibility as a moderator
INTRODUCTION: While peer delinquency is a known mediator between early pubertal timing and externalizing behaviors, little is known about factors that could protect against the adverse influence of peer delinquency. This study assesses the possible moderating role of cognitive flexibility, which is one index of executive functioning that facilitates flexible and adaptive responses to challenging situations. We assessed the interactive influence o…
Cognitively‐Based Compassion Training for parents reduces cortisol in infants and young children
This study tests a group‐based secular contemplative practice intervention, Cognitively‐Based Compassion Training (CBCT), with parents of young children. We report on a randomized controlled preliminary efficacy study. Certified teachers administered CBCT for 20 hr across 8 to 10 weeks in two cohorts of parents with infants and young children. The intervention group was compared to a waitlist control group. Thirty‐nine parents and their children,…
Shared Environment Effects on Children’s Emotion Recognition
Empathy is relevant to many psychiatric conditions. Empathy involves the natural ability to perceive and be sensitive to the emotional states of others. Thus, emotion recognition (ER) abilities are key to understanding empathy. Despite the importance of ER to normal and abnormal social interactions, little is known about how it develops throughout childhood. We examined genetic and environmental influences on children's ER via facial and vocal cu…
Parenting Effects are in the Eye of the Beholder: Parent-Adolescent Differences in Perceptions Affects Adolescent Problem Behaviors
The Legacy of Loss: Mental Health Professionals Disclose Their Personal and Family Experiences of Mental Illness
Chapter 14 presents a multigenerational account of the contributor’s family, featuring her mother’s descent into severe, agitated depression and her father’s drinking and poor coping. In its early stages, the chapter provides vivid histories of the parents; as the narrative emerges, the contributor deals directly with the effects of such behavior patterns on her own personal and career development.
Adolescent Emotion Socialization: A Longitudinal Study of Friends' Responses to Negative Emotions
Although peer influences are thought to be critically important to adolescent development, there is a paucity of research investigating the emotion socialization practices that take place between adolescents. This longitudinal study evaluated close friends' responses to negative emotion using a newly developed assessment tool of peer emotion socialization, you and your friends . Adolescent participants (N = 205) exhibiting a range of internalizin…
The role of language in concern and disregard for others in the first years of life
We examined the associations between language skills and concern and disregard for others in young children assessed longitudinally at ages 14, 20, 24, and 36 months, testing the hypothesis that language skills have a specific role (distinct from that of general cognitive ability) in the development of concern and disregard for others. We found that higher language skills predicted higher concern for others and lower disregard for others even aft…
Empathy development from 8 to 16 months: Early signs of concern for others
Socialization of emotion: Who influences whom and how
Emotion socialization begins within the family setting and extends outward as children transition into expanded social worlds. Children contribute to their socialization from the first years of life, so the dynamics between parents and children are reciprocal in nature. Because socialization influences are best inferred from patterns that unfold over time, longitudinal research can help to untangle these processes. Laboratory observations of emot…
Disorders of Childhood and Adolescence: Gender and Psychopathology
Early-onset disorders (e.g., conduct problems, autism) show a marked male preponderance, whereas adolescent-onset disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety) show a marked female preponderance. A developmental psychopathology framework provides a means to investigate complex gender-related etiologies of these different disorders. This review focuses on biological and environmental factors implicated in the development of conduct problems and depression…
The developmental origins of a disposition toward empathy: Genetic and environmental contributions
The authors investigated the development of a disposition toward empathy and its genetic and environmental origins. Young twins' (N = 409 pairs) cognitive (hypothesis testing) and affective (empathic concern) empathy and prosocial behavior in response to simulated pain by mothers and examiners were observed at multiple time points. Children's mean level of empathy and prosociality increased from 14 to 36 months. Positive concurrent and longitudin…
Parental Emotion Socialization in Adolescence: Differences in Sex, Age and Problem Status
There is a paucity of research on how mothers and fathers socialize emotion in their adolescent sons and daughters. This study was based on 220 adolescents (range 11‐ to 16‐years‐old) who exhibit a range of emotional and behavioral problems and their parents. Parental responses to their children's displays of sadness, anger and fear were assessed. Mothers were found to be more engaged in their children's emotional lives than were fathers. With a …
The Socialization of Autonomy and Relatedness: Sequential Verbal Exchanges in Japanese and U.S. Mother-Preschooler Dyads
Despite documented cross-cultural variability in autonomy and relatedness, relatively little is known about how these characteristics of self are socialized. This study, a secondary analysis (Dennis et al., 2002), explored this question by examining sequential verbal exchanges between Japanese and U.S. mothers and children during play and a challenging wait ( N = 60, M age = 55.8 months, SD = 4.9). The likelihood that mothers would contingently e…
Parental Socialization of Emotion Expression: Gender Differences and Relations to Child Adjustment
The present study examined gender differences in children's submissive and disharmonious emotions and parental attention to these emotions. Sixty children and their mothers and fathers participated when children were 4 and 6 years old. Children's emotion expression and parental responses during a game were coded. Girls expressed more submissive emotion than boys. Fathers attended more to girls' submissive emotion than to boys' at preschool age. F…
The development of concern for others in children with behavior problems
The development of concern for others and externalizing problems were examined in young children with normative, subclinical, or clinical levels of behavior problems. There were no group differences in observable concern for others at 4-5 years of age. Children with clinical behavior problems decreased significantly in their concern by 6-7 years of age and were reported to have less concern at 6-7 years by mothers, teachers, and the children them…
The relations between temperament and empathy in 2-year-olds
The role of infant and toddler temperament in the prediction of empathy in 2-year-old children was examined. Assessments of temperament included reactivity and affect observed at 4 months of age, as well as inhibition at Age 2. Empathy was measured in 2-year-old children's responses to simulations of distress performed by their mothers and by an unfamiliar person. Children showed relatively more concern for the mother's distress, but they were al…
Environment, biology, and culture: Implications for adolescent development
Introduction to special section: Parental depression and distress: Implications for development in infancy, childhood, and adolescence
Expressive control during a disappointment: Variations related to preschoolers' behavior problems
Individual difference in expressive control during a disappointment wer examined in relation to preschool boy's and girls' concurrent behavior and to their risk for developing disruptive behavior disorders. A disappointment paradigm was used to examine expressive control in 79 4- and 5-year-old children with low, moderate, or high risk
Editor’s introduction to the APA centennial series
The development of empathy in twins
This study examined empathy in 94 monozygotic (MZ) and 90 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs during the 2nd year of life. Children's reactions to simulations of distress in others were videotaped in home and laboratory settings. Some components of concern for others increased with age between 14 and 20 months for both MZ and DZ twins. Girls scored higher than boys on most of these observational measures. The different components (e.g., emotional concern, …
Development of concern for others
The development of prosocial and reparative bebaviors was investigated by examining children's responses to distresses they caused and those they witnessed in others during the 2nd year of life. Prosocial behaviors (help, sharing, provision of comfort) emerged between the ages of 1 and 2, increasing in frequency and variety over this time period. These behaviors were linked to expressions of concern as well as efforts to understand and experience…
The development of concern for others in children with behavior problems
The development of concern for others and externalizing problems were examined in young children with normative, subclinical, or clinical levels of behavior problems. There were no group differences in observable concern for others at 4-5 years of age. Children with clinical behavior problems decreased significantly in their concern by 6-7 years of age and were reported to have less concern at 6-7 years by mothers, teachers, and the children them…
Expressive control during a disappointment: Variations related to preschoolers' behavior problems
Individual difference in expressive control during a disappointment wer examined in relation to preschool boy's and girls' concurrent behavior and to their risk for developing disruptive behavior disorders. A disappointment paradigm was used to examine expressive control in 79 4- and 5-year-old children with low, moderate, or high risk
The development of empathy in twins
This study examined empathy in 94 monozygotic (MZ) and 90 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs during the 2nd year of life. Children's reactions to simulations of distress in others were videotaped in home and laboratory settings. Some components of concern for others increased with age between 14 and 20 months for both MZ and DZ twins. Girls scored higher than boys on most of these observational measures. The different components (e.g., emotional concern, …
Influence of conflict between adults on the emotions and aggression of young children
The relations between temperament and empathy in 2-year-olds
The role of infant and toddler temperament in the prediction of empathy in 2-year-old children was examined. Assessments of temperament included reactivity and affect observed at 4 months of age, as well as inhibition at Age 2. Empathy was measured in 2-year-old children's responses to simulations of distress performed by their mothers and by an unfamiliar person. Children showed relatively more concern for the mother's distress, but they were al…
Patterns of guilt in children of depressed and well mothers
Expressions of guilt were examined in 87 children, 5-9 years old, in a psychiatric interview and in an semiprojective procedure using vignettes to elicit children's narratives about interpersonal conflict and distress. Guilt is considered in relation to other dimensions of affect, theories of moral development, patterns of adaptation and maladaptation, and processes of social transmission of emotional problems
Parental Emotion Socialization in Adolescence: Differences in Sex, Age and Problem Status
There is a paucity of research on how mothers and fathers socialize emotion in their adolescent sons and daughters. This study was based on 220 adolescents (range 11‐ to 16‐years‐old) who exhibit a range of emotional and behavioral problems and their parents. Parental responses to their children's displays of sadness, anger and fear were assessed. Mothers were found to be more engaged in their children's emotional lives than were fathers. With a …
Empathy and responsibility in the motivation of children's helping
Parenting Effects are in the Eye of the Beholder: Parent-Adolescent Differences in Perceptions Affects Adolescent Problem Behaviors
Perspective-taking and prosocial behavior
Environment, biology, and culture: Implications for adolescent development
Adolescent Emotion Socialization: A Longitudinal Study of Friends' Responses to Negative Emotions
Although peer influences are thought to be critically important to adolescent development, there is a paucity of research investigating the emotion socialization practices that take place between adolescents. This longitudinal study evaluated close friends' responses to negative emotion using a newly developed assessment tool of peer emotion socialization, you and your friends . Adolescent participants (N = 205) exhibiting a range of internalizin…
The role of language in concern and disregard for others in the first years of life
We examined the associations between language skills and concern and disregard for others in young children assessed longitudinally at ages 14, 20, 24, and 36 months, testing the hypothesis that language skills have a specific role (distinct from that of general cognitive ability) in the development of concern and disregard for others. We found that higher language skills predicted higher concern for others and lower disregard for others even aft…
Development and content of imitation in the second and third years of life: A socialization perspective
The Socialization of Autonomy and Relatedness: Sequential Verbal Exchanges in Japanese and U.S. Mother-Preschooler Dyads
Despite documented cross-cultural variability in autonomy and relatedness, relatively little is known about how these characteristics of self are socialized. This study, a secondary analysis (Dennis et al., 2002), explored this question by examining sequential verbal exchanges between Japanese and U.S. mothers and children during play and a challenging wait ( N = 60, M age = 55.8 months, SD = 4.9). The likelihood that mothers would contingently e…
The infant day care controversy: Current status and future directions
Introduction to special section: Parental depression and distress: Implications for development in infancy, childhood, and adolescence
Cognitively‐Based Compassion Training for parents reduces cortisol in infants and young children
This study tests a group‐based secular contemplative practice intervention, Cognitively‐Based Compassion Training (CBCT), with parents of young children. We report on a randomized controlled preliminary efficacy study. Certified teachers administered CBCT for 20 hr across 8 to 10 weeks in two cohorts of parents with infants and young children. The intervention group was compared to a waitlist control group. Thirty‐nine parents and their children,…
Perspective-taking and prosocial behavior
Child Rearing and Children's Prosocial Initiations toward Victims of Distress
Young Children's Responses to Expressions of Anger and Affection by Others in the Family
E. Mark Cummings, Carolyn Zahn-Waxler, Marian Radke-Yarrow, Young Children's Responses to Expressions of Anger and Affection by Others in the Family, Child Development, Vol. 52, No. 4 (Dec., 1981), pp. 1274-1282
Immediate antecedents of caretakers' methods of discipline
Young offspring of depressed parents: A population at risk for affective problems
Studies of offspring of depressed parents are reviewed. A program of research on young children of unipolar and bipolar depressed parents is described. Early manifestations or precursors of childhood depression are identified
Cognitive and social development in infants and toddlers with a bipolar parent
Influence of conflict between adults on the emotions and aggression of young children
Child-rearing patterns in depressed, abusive, and normal mothers
Child-rearing patterns in relation to discipline, emotion regulation, separation-individuation, and level of aspiration differentiated depressed, abusive, and normal mothers. Depressed and abusive mothers both expressed inconsistency, hostility, and protectiveness. Both groups used anxiety and guilt inducing methods but only abusive mothers used them in conjunction with harsh authoritarian practices
Development and content of imitation in the second and third years of life: A socialization perspective
Empathy and responsibility in the motivation of children's helping
The infant day care controversy: Current status and future directions
Altruism and Aggression: Biological and Social Origins
The origins of empathic concern
Patterns of guilt in children of depressed and well mothers
Expressions of guilt were examined in 87 children, 5-9 years old, in a psychiatric interview and in an semiprojective procedure using vignettes to elicit children's narratives about interpersonal conflict and distress. Guilt is considered in relation to other dimensions of affect, theories of moral development, patterns of adaptation and maladaptation, and processes of social transmission of emotional problems
Social competence in young children's peer relations: Patterns of development and change
Editor’s introduction to the APA centennial series
The development of empathy in twins
This study examined empathy in 94 monozygotic (MZ) and 90 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs during the 2nd year of life. Children's reactions to simulations of distress in others were videotaped in home and laboratory settings. Some components of concern for others increased with age between 14 and 20 months for both MZ and DZ twins. Girls scored higher than boys on most of these observational measures. The different components (e.g., emotional concern, …
Development of concern for others
The development of prosocial and reparative bebaviors was investigated by examining children's responses to distresses they caused and those they witnessed in others during the 2nd year of life. Prosocial behaviors (help, sharing, provision of comfort) emerged between the ages of 1 and 2, increasing in frequency and variety over this time period. These behaviors were linked to expressions of concern as well as efforts to understand and experience…
Expressive control during a disappointment: Variations related to preschoolers' behavior problems
Individual difference in expressive control during a disappointment wer examined in relation to preschool boy's and girls' concurrent behavior and to their risk for developing disruptive behavior disorders. A disappointment paradigm was used to examine expressive control in 79 4- and 5-year-old children with low, moderate, or high risk
Introduction to special section: Parental depression and distress: Implications for development in infancy, childhood, and adolescence
Environment, biology, and culture: Implications for adolescent development
The relations between temperament and empathy in 2-year-olds
The role of infant and toddler temperament in the prediction of empathy in 2-year-old children was examined. Assessments of temperament included reactivity and affect observed at 4 months of age, as well as inhibition at Age 2. Empathy was measured in 2-year-old children's responses to simulations of distress performed by their mothers and by an unfamiliar person. Children showed relatively more concern for the mother's distress, but they were al…
The development of concern for others in children with behavior problems
The development of concern for others and externalizing problems were examined in young children with normative, subclinical, or clinical levels of behavior problems. There were no group differences in observable concern for others at 4-5 years of age. Children with clinical behavior problems decreased significantly in their concern by 6-7 years of age and were reported to have less concern at 6-7 years by mothers, teachers, and the children them…
Parental Socialization of Emotion Expression: Gender Differences and Relations to Child Adjustment
The present study examined gender differences in children's submissive and disharmonious emotions and parental attention to these emotions. Sixty children and their mothers and fathers participated when children were 4 and 6 years old. Children's emotion expression and parental responses during a game were coded. Girls expressed more submissive emotion than boys. Fathers attended more to girls' submissive emotion than to boys' at preschool age. F…
Parental Emotion Socialization in Adolescence: Differences in Sex, Age and Problem Status
There is a paucity of research on how mothers and fathers socialize emotion in their adolescent sons and daughters. This study was based on 220 adolescents (range 11‐ to 16‐years‐old) who exhibit a range of emotional and behavioral problems and their parents. Parental responses to their children's displays of sadness, anger and fear were assessed. Mothers were found to be more engaged in their children's emotional lives than were fathers. With a …
Psychology (40 works) · Developmental psychology (37 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (32 works) · Social Psychology (25 works) · Social Psychology (18 works) · Clinical Psychology (16 works) · Empathy (13 works) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics (11 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (11 works) · Prosocial behavior (9 works)