Department of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Dev Psychobiol. 2020 Sep;62(6):871-881. doi: 10.1002/dev.21951. Epub 2020 Jan 30.
Impaired empathy has been associated with aggression in children, adolescents and adults, but results have been contradictory for the preschool period. Impaired inhibitory control also increases the risk of aggression, and possibly moderates empathy-aggression associations. The current study investigated whether empathy and inhibitory control are associated with aggression in toddlerhood. Furthermore, we aimed to clarify the role of inhibitory control in empathy and aggression, specifically, whether inhibitory control moderates the association between empathy and aggression. During a laboratory visit at age 30 months (N = 103), maternal reports of physical aggression were obtained and child inhibitory control was examined using a gift delay task. Empathy was examined by obtaining behavioral observations and recording physiological responses (heart rate response and respiratory sinus arrhythmia response) to an empathy-eliciting event (i.e., simulated distress). Reduced inhibitory control was associated with more aggression. Behavioral and physiological indicators of empathy were not associated with aggression. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed an interaction effect of heart rate response to distress simulation with inhibitory control in the prediction of aggression. Post hoc analyses indicated a negative association between heart rate response and aggression when inhibitory control was high, but a positive association was found in toddlers who demonstrated low inhibitory control. These results suggest that children are less aggressive when they have both high levels of empathy and inhibitory control. Therefore, both empathy and inhibition are important targets for interventions aiming to reduce or prevent aggression at a young age.
同理心受损与儿童、青少年和成年人的攻击性有关，但对于学龄前儿童，研究结果存在矛盾。抑制控制能力受损也会增加攻击性的风险，并且可能调节同理心与攻击性的关联。本研究调查了同理心和抑制控制是否与幼儿期的攻击性有关。此外，我们旨在澄清抑制控制在同理心和攻击性中的作用，具体来说，就是抑制控制是否调节了同理心与攻击性之间的关联。在 30 个月大（N=103）的一次实验室访问中，通过母亲报告获得了身体攻击的情况，并使用礼物延迟任务来检查儿童的抑制控制能力。通过获得行为观察和记录同理心诱发事件（即模拟痛苦）时的生理反应（心率反应和呼吸窦性心律失常反应）来检查同理心。抑制控制能力下降与更多的攻击性有关。同理心的行为和生理指标与攻击性无关。层次回归分析显示，在预测攻击性时，痛苦模拟的心率反应与抑制控制之间存在交互作用。事后分析表明，当抑制控制较高时，心率反应与攻击性呈负相关，但在表现出低抑制控制的幼儿中，这种相关性为正。这些结果表明，当儿童具有较高的同理心和抑制控制能力时，他们的攻击性较低。因此，同理心和抑制都是针对旨在减少或预防幼儿期攻击性的干预措施的重要目标。
