Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39652274›Full record

Observational studyResearch on child and adolescent psychopathology2025

Empathy Development in Preschoolers With/Without Hearing Loss and Its Associations with Social-Emotional Functioning.

Zijian Li, Boya Li, Yung-Ting Tsou, Johan H M Frijns, Qi Meng, Shannon Yuen, Liyan Wang, Wei Liang, Carolien Rieffe

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Research on child and adolescent psychopathology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Zijian LiUnit of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-0924-4880
Boya LiUnit of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-3915-2090
Yung-Ting TsouUnit of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-6557-5153
Johan H M FrijnsOtorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-1180-3314
Qi MengUnit of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-1740-5798
Shannon YuenUnit of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-8940-7218
Liyan WangChina Rehabilitation Research Center for Hearing and Speech Impairment, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-1555-5696
Wei LiangChina Rehabilitation Research Center for Hearing and Speech Impairment, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0003-0532-7515
Carolien RieffeUnit of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands. crieffe@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.ORCID 0000-0002-7584-6698

Funding

China Scholarship Council 201907720030Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen 530-5CDP17
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Empathy plays a crucial role in children's social-emotional development. There is an increasing trend in recent studies to recognize empathy as a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of three distinct hierarchical levels: emotion contagion, attention to others' feelings and prosocial behaviors (Hoffman, Motiv Emot, 14(2), 151-172, 1990). The present study is amongst the first to use a longitudinal approach to examine the development trajectories of the distinct empathic levels, based on a sample of Chinese preschoolers aged 2 to 6 years, half of the sample being deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH). Our results showed that according to the parental observation, DHH preschoolers manifested similar extent of emotion contagion and attention to others' feelings as their TH (typically hearing) peers over preschool years. Yet, DHH preschoolers showed fewer prosocial behaviors, compared to their TH peers. As for the longitudinal associations over time, emotion contagion contributed to more internalizing and externalizing behaviors in both groups; whilst attention to others' feelings contributed to fewer internalizing behaviors in only DHH children. Prosocial behaviors contributed to better social competence, and fewer internalizing and externalizing behaviors in both DHH and TH children just as expected. These outcomes imply that the early intervention or special education may be useful to safeguard children's empathic development, shrinking the gaps between DHH and TH children; but meanwhile, cultural factors might cause latent effects on children's understandings of empathy and impact on how empathy "regulates" children's social-emotional functioning, in a Chinese cultural context.

Indexed as

Child BehaviorChild DevelopmentEmpathyHearing LossSocial BehaviorAttentionChildChild, PreschoolChinaCultureEmotionsFemaleHumansInfantInternal-External ControlLongitudinal StudiesDevelopment trajectoryEmpathyPreschoolersSocial-emotional functioning

Identifiers

PMID39652274
PMCPMC11845562

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.