Emotion Regulation and Empathy in Preschoolers
Identifying Specific Profiles
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21634089 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Poline Simon (0000-0001-5506-9644), Nathalie Nader‐Grosbois (0000-0001-6439-8810, corresponding author), Nathalie Nader-Grosbois |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 687-709 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Child & Youth Care Forum (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1053-1890 • E-ISSN: 1573-3319 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10566-025-09890-4 |
| OpenAlex | W4414134512 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 80 |
Although empathy is increasingly recognized as a multidimensional construct (including affective, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions), few studies have examined its specific links with emotion regulation during the preschool period. Prior research on toddlers and schoolers has focused on global or affective/cognitive empathy, without considering behavioral empathy or lability/negativity. Moreover, no study has explored whether distinct profiles can be identified in preschoolers. This study aimed (1) to examine the associations between age, emotion regulation, lability/negativity, and empathy dimensions, and (2) to identify subgroups of children based on their strengths and weaknesses in these domains. Mothers of 354 children ( M = 4.41 years, SD = 1.03; age range: 3–6 years; 56.8% of girls) completed the French versions of the Griffith Empathy Measure, the prosocial actions scale of the Empathy Questionnaire, and the Emotion Regulation Checklist. Path model analysis tested associations among the variables. Hierarchical clustering analyses identified subgroups based on emotion regulation, lability/negativity, and empathy scores. Emotion regulation was positively associated with all empathy dimensions, while lability/negativity was negatively related to cognitive empathy. Five distinct subgroups emerged: two subgroups exhibiting good emotion regulation and empathy (one with a more moderate profile), one combining good emotion regulation and affective/behavioral empathy with low cognitive empathy, and two subgroups with lower empathy, one of which was characterized by higher lability/negativity. These findings reveal systematic links between regulation and empathy dimensions and distinct profiles of emotion regulation and empathy. Early identification of these profiles may support the development of interventions
Cognition · Cognitive reappraisal · Empathy · Meta-analysis · Perspective-taking · Prosocial behavior · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Early Childhood Education and Development · Infant Health and Development
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Empathy development from 8 to 16 months
Prosocial Development
The Neurodevelopment of Empathy in Humans
Emotion-Related Regulation
The Relations of Regulation and Emotionality to Children's Externalizing and Internalizing Problem Behavior
An Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents
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Putting together phylogenetic and ontogenetic perspectives on empathy
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Parental Socialization of Emotion
Spanish Validation of the Two-Factor Interpersonal Reactivity Index
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Adaptation and validation of the French version of empathy questionnaire in preschoolers
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Emotion regulation among school-age children
Prediction of Children's Empathy-Related Responding From Their Effortful Control and Parents' Expressivity
Socialization of children's vicarious emotional responding and prosocial behavior
Individual differences in trajectories of emotion regulation processes
Empathy and the self
Social outcomes in childhood brain disorder
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |