Are prosocial tendencies relevant for developmental psychopathology? The relations of prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding to externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and autism spectrum disorder.

The field of developmental psychopathology tends to focus on the negative aspects of functioning. However, prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding - positive aspects of functioning- might relate to some aspects of psychopathology in meaningful ways. In this article, we review research on the relations of three types of developmental psychopathology- externalizing problems (EPs), internalizing problems (IPs), and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) - to empathy-related responding (e.g., affective and cognitive empathy, sympathy, personal distress) and prosocial behavior. Empathy-related responding and prosocial behavior generally have been inversely related to EPs, although findings are sometimes reversed for young children and, for empathy, weak for reactive aggression. Some research indicates that children's empathy (often measured as emotional contagion) and personal distress are positively related to IPs, suggesting that strong sensitivity to others' emotions is harmful to some children. In contrast, prosocial behaviors are more consistently negatively related to IPs, although findings likely vary depending on the motivation for prosocial behavior and the recipient. Children with ASD are capable of prosocially and empathy-related responding, although parents report somewhat lower levels of these characteristics for ASD children compared to neurotypical peers. Issues in regard to measurement, motivation for prosociality, causal relations, and moderating and mediating factors are discussed.

The relations among prosocial behavior, hedonic, and eudaimonic well-being in everyday life.

INTRODUCTION: Existing research highlights the significance of prosocial behavior (voluntary, intentional behavior that results in benefits for another) to people's well-being. Yet, the extent to which this expected positive relation operates at the within-person level (e.g., is more prosocial behavior than usual related to a higher than usual level of well-being?) while taking into account stable interindividual differences, remains a research question that deserves further investigation. In this study, we aimed to explore the relations between prosocial behavior and hedonic (HWB; subjective assessment of life satisfaction and happiness) and eudaimonic (EWB; actualization of human potential in alignment with personal goals, including concepts like meaning in life and closeness to others) well-being in daily life. METHOD: Using ecological momentary assessment for 4 weeks, data were collected from two British samples, comprising 82 adolescents and 166 adults. RESULTS: Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling revealed a positive relations between prosocial behavior and HWB/EWB at both between and within-person levels across the samples. CONCLUSION: In summary, these findings further support the positive link between prosocial behavior and well-being in everyday life. Notably, this association was consistent across different age groups (adolescent and adults) at both between and within-person levels.

Emotion-related Self-regulation Profiles in Early Adolescence: A Cross-National Study.

Emotionality and self-regulation are crucial for positive development, especially during early adolescence when youths experience normative increases in behavioral problems and declines in prosociality. Using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA-a person-oriented technique to identify patterns of functioning within individuals), we identified youths' profiles based on dimensions of mother-reported negative emotionality (NE; anger/frustration, sadness/depressive mood), and Effortful Control (EC; attentional, activation and inhibitory control) and examined concurrent associations with self- and mother-reported aggressive and prosocial behaviors. We included a cross-national sample of 530 youths (M age =11.43; 49% males) from Colombia (17%), Italy (36%), and United States (47%). We identified four profiles: Adjusted (38%; low NE; high EC)-lowest aggression, highest prosociality; Average (34%; average NE and EC)-average aggression and prosociality; Emotional-regulated (20%; high NE; average EC)-average aggression and high prosociality; and Emotional-dysregulated (8%; high NE; low EC)-highest aggression, low prosociality. We highlight associations of different emotion-regulation patterns with specific behavioral responses in early adolescence.

The relevance of top-down self-regulation for children's and adolescents' developmental outcomes.

A popular topic in developmental science is self-regulation, an aspect of functioning viewed as contributing to optimal development. Of particular theoretical importance is top-down (frontal cortically based) self-regulation (TDSR). This article briefly reviews recent research on TDSR's relation to four areas of development: maladjustment, social competence, prosocial development, and academic development. Recent studies on the topic often involve sophisticated methods and designs; moreover, several relevant meta-analyses have been published in the recent past. In general, a higher level of TDSR has been associated with better adjustment, social competence, prosociality, and success in the school setting. Limitations in the research and extant meta-analyses are briefly noted.