The Effects of Parental Nurturance, Harsh Discipline, and Inter-Parental Conflict on Empathy Development in Early Adolescence

Parents play an important role in adolescents’ development of empathy. However, less understood is what dimensions of parental behavior predict changes in empathy during early adolescence and whether effects of parental behavior are moderated by pubertal timing or differ by sex. This study used data from an ethnically diverse sample of 704 youth who reported on their parents’ nurturance, harsh discipline, and inter-parental conflict at age 11; on their own empathy at ages 11 and 13; and on their pubertal timing at age 13. The results showed that only parental nurturance uniquely predicted more empathy at age 13 and that this effect was stronger in females. Harsh discipline and inter-parental conflict were only concurrently associated with lower empathy at age 11. Pubertal timing did not moderate the links between parental nurturance, harsh discipline, or inter-parental conflict at age 11 and empathy at age 13.