Bidirectional theories of social development have been around for over 40 years (Bell, 1968), yet they have been applied primarily to the study of antisocial development. In the present study, the ...reciprocal relationship between parenting behavior and children's socially competent behaviors were examined. Using the National Institute of Child Health and Development Study of Early Child Care data set (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2005), bidirectional relationships between parental sensitivity and children's prosocial behavior were modeled using latent variables in structural equation modeling for mothers and fathers, separately. Children and their parents engaged in structured interactions when children were 54-month-olds, 3rd graders, and 5th graders, and these interactions were coded for parental sensitivity. At 3rd, 5th, and 6th grades, teachers and parents reported on children's prosocial behavior. Parental education and child gender were entered as covariates in the models. The results provide support for a bidirectional relationship between children's prosocial behavior and maternal sensitivity (but not paternal sensitivity) in middle childhood. The importance of using a bidirectional approach to examine the development of social competence is emphasized.
The current study examined bidirectional, longitudinal links between prosocial and problem behavior. Participants (N = 500) were recruited from a Northwestern city in the United States and assessed ...for 3 consecutive years from 2009 to 2011 (Mage of youth at Time 1 = 13.32, SD = 1.05; 52% girls; 67% European American, 33% single-parent families). Results suggested that effects of earlier prosocial behavior toward family and strangers were predictive of fewer problem behaviors 2 years later, while results for prosocial behavior toward friends were more mixed. Results also suggested depression predicted lower prosocial behavior toward family members and anxiety predicted higher prosocial behavior toward friends. Findings show a complex pattern of relations that demonstrate the need to consider targets of helping.
The prosocial tendencies measure (PTM; Carlo and Randall, 2002) is a widely used measurement for prosocial tendencies in English speaking participants. This instrument distinguishes between six ...different types of prosocial tendencies that partly share some common basis, but also can be opposed to each other. To examine these constructs in Germany, a study with 1067 participants was conducted. The study investigated the structure of this German version of the PTM-R via exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlations with similar constructs in subsamples as well as via measurement invariance test concerning the original English version. The German translation showed a similar factor structure to the English version in exploratory factor analysis and in confirmatory factor analysis. Measurement invariance was found between the English and German language versions of the PTM and support for the proposed six-factor structure (altruistic, anonymous, compliant, dire, emotional and public prosocial behavior) was also found in confirmatory factor analysis. Furthermore, the expected interrelations of these factors of prosocial behavior tendencies were obtained. Finally, correlations of the prosocial behavior tendencies with validating constructs and behaviors were found. Thus, the findings stress the importance of seeing prosocial behavior not as a single dimension construct, but as a factored construct which now can also be assessed in German speaking participants.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships between cybervictimization in social networks, problematic smartphone use, aggressive behaviors, and prosocial altruistic tendencies in ...young adults. The sample consisted of 601 young adults (mean age = 19.96 years; SD = 2.27; 69.1% female) who were administered online assessments of experiences of humiliation on networks, problematic smartphone use, prosocial altruistic tendencies, and aggressiveness. Results indicated significant indirect effects of cyber victimization on aggressiveness and prosocial altruistic tendencies through problematic smartphone use. Problematic cell phone use explained the relationships between online humiliation and aggressive and prosocial altruistic behaviors. The results confirmed the positive relationship between cybervictimization and problematic cell phone use, consistent with previous research. However, the negative relationship between cybervictimization and altruistic prosocial tendencies was not corroborated. The findings emphasize the need to promote actions that foster social connectedness and interdependence among young individuals to develop their identity within the community.
► Coping, empathy and emotional instability predicting aggression and helping. ► Socioemotive traits mediated coping styles and behaviors. ► Coping mediated socioemotive traits and behaviors.
...Mediating and moderating effects of socioemotive traits and coping styles on aggression and prosocial behaviors were examined. A sample of 1557 students from Spain (53% male, M age=13.12) completed self-report instruments of coping, empathy, emotional instability, physical aggression, and prosocial behaviors. Structural equation analysis showed support for two mediation models but little support for moderation. Emotional instability positively predicted emotion-focused coping, which in turn, positively predicted aggression. In contrast, empathy positively predicted problem-focused coping, which in turn, positively predicted prosocial behaviors. Moreover, problem-focused coping positively predicted trait empathy, which in turn positively predicted prosocial behaviors, and negatively predicted aggression. Emotion-focused coping was positively related to emotional instability, which in turn, was positively related to aggression. Discussion focuses on the interplay of self regulation and socioemotive traits in predicting aggressive and prosocial behaviors.
Sparse research suggests that children's social information processing has links not just with aggressive behavior but also with children's prosocial behavior (e.g., Nelson & Crick, 1999). However, ...the past work that has been done has not been longitudinal, so the direction of links between social information processing and prosocial behavior remains unclear. In this study, we used data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2010) to examine longitudinally the links between prosocial as well as aggressive behaviors and social information processing. Children completed multiple assessments of social information processing (including attribution biases and strategy response selection) from the 3rd to 5th grades. Mothers and teachers completed measures of children's prosocial and aggressive behavior from the 3rd to 6th grades. Overall, the findings demonstrated that some of the links between social information processing and social behavior are bidirectional but that the direction of effects depends on when such links were assessed. At Grade 3, it was mostly children's social behavior that predicted social information processing. At Grades 4 and 5, however, social information processing predicted children's social behavior.
The links between discrimination and adjustment in U.S. Latino/a immigrant adolescents is an important but understudied phenomenon. We aimed to investigate the longitudinal associations (across ...1 year) among discrimination, prosocial behaviors, and depressive symptoms in U.S. Latino immigrant adolescents using two competing models: associations between discrimination and prosocial behaviors via depressive symptoms (mental health strain model), and associations between discrimination and depressive symptoms via prosocial behaviors (prosociality strain model). Participants were 302 Latino/a recent immigrant adolescents (53.3 % boys, M
age
= 14.51 years at Time 1,
SD
= .88 years) who completed measures of discrimination, depressive symptoms, and prosocial behaviors at 6-month intervals. The results provided support for both proposed models. The discussion examines the importance of prosocial behaviors in understanding adjustment and effects of discrimination among recently immigrated U.S. Latino adolescents.
Background: Problematic use of smartphones is a challenge facing societies around the world. This phenomenon has been associated with negative socialization experiences through the impact they have ...on how the youth relates to their environment. This study was designed to examine parental and peer attachment, self-efficacy and prosocial reasoning as predictors of different attitudes towards online communication and problematic smartphone use. Method: 561 youth aged 14-20 years (Mage = 17.82; SD = 1.64; 67.7% Female) participated in an online survey. Results: Results indicated that an increase in self-efficacy or prosocial reasoning is correlated with a decrease in problematic smartphone use and attitudes towards online communication aimed at avoiding reality or constructing a more comfortable parallel social reality. Attachment to parents and peers had direct and indirect effects on problematic smartphone use and attitudes toward online communication through youth personal and social adjustment. Conclusions: Attachment plays a relevant role in the symptoms reduction of smartphone addiction and attitudes to online communication in youth, through its impact on self-efficacy perceptions and prosocial reasoning. Keywords: Parents, peers, self-efficacy, smartphone, addiction, prosociality. Apego Percibido y Uso Problematico de los Telefonos Inteligentes en los Jovenes: Efectos Mediadores de la Autorregulacion y la Prosocialidad. Antecedentes: el uso problematico de los smartphones es un reto al que se enfrentan las sociedades de todo el mundo. Este fenomeno se ha asociado con experiencias negativas de socializacion a traves del impacto que estas tienen en como los jovenes se relacionan con su entorno. Este trabajo examina el apego (parental y pares), la autoeficacia y el razonamiento prosocial como predictores de diferentes actitudes hacia la comunicacion online y uso problematico del movil. Metodo: 561jovenes entre 14 y 20 anos (Medad = 17,82; SD = 1,64; 67,7% Mujeres) participaron en una encuesta online. Resultados: tanto la autoeficacia como el razonamiento prosocial se correlaciona con una disminucion del uso problematico del movil y de las actitudes hacia la comunicacion online orientada a evadir la realidad o a construir una realidad social paralela mas comoda. El apego (parental y pares) tuvo efectos directos e indirectos sobre el uso problematico del movil y las actitudes hacia la comunicacion. Conclusiones: el apego juega un papel relevante en la reduccion de sintomas de adiccion al movil y en las actitudes hacia la comunicacion online en los jovenes, a traves de su impacto en las percepciones de autoeficacia y razonamiento prosocial. Palabras clave: padres, companeros, autoeficacia, smartphone, adiccion, prosocialidad.
This study was designed to examine the roles of emotional reactivity, self‐regulation, and pubertal timing in prosocial behaviors during adolescence. Participants were 850 sixth graders (50 percent ...female, mean age = 11.03, standard deviation = .17) who were followed up at the age of 15. In hierarchical regression models, measures of emotional reactivity, self‐regulation, pubertal timing, and their interactions were used to predict (concurrently and over time) adolescents' prosocial behaviors in the home and with peers. Overall, the findings provide evidence for pubertal and temperament‐based predictors of prosocial behaviors expressed in different contexts. Self‐regulation was positively related to both forms of prosocial behavior, concurrently and longitudinally. Emotional reactivity showed moderately consistent effects, showing negative concurrent relations to prosocial behavior with peers and negative longitudinal relations (4 years later) to prosocial behavior at home. Some curvilinear effects of temperament on prosocial behaviors were also found. Effects of pubertal timing were found to interact with gender, such that boys who were early maturers showed the highest levels of prosocial behavior at home concurrently. Discussion focuses on the role of temperament‐based mechanisms in the expression of prosocial behaviors in different contexts in adolescence.
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