Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39962726›Full record

ArticleThe British journal of developmental psychology2025

Parental reflective functioning and internalizing symptoms predict altruistic prosocial behaviour in children.

Daniel McGlade, Helena Rutherford, Eamon McCrory, Nikolaus Steinbeis

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The British journal of developmental psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

4 authors.

Daniel McGladeDivision of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0009-0005-8864-9692
Helena RutherfordYale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8680-1535
Eamon McCroryDivision of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5336-5079
Nikolaus SteinbeisDivision of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-8650-4725

Funding

Economic and Social Research CouncilEuropean Research CouncilJacobs Foundation
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mental health has a profound impact on how we interact with the world. How it shapes prosocial behaviour during middle childhood, a period crucial for establishing healthy relationships, remains poorly understood. Moreover, whilst child mental health and prosocial behaviour are influenced by caregiving experience more broadly, less is known about how they are shaped by parental reflective functioning (PRF), that is parents' capacity to represent their child's underlying mental states. A longitudinal design, with assessments at baseline and 1 year follow-up, was used with 233 children (111 boys; 6-13 years old; 54.9% White, 17.2% Asian, 2.58% Black, 14.2% Multiple ethnic groups, 2.58% Other, 8.58% data unavailable). Using path modelling, we examined interrelations between baseline PRF, baseline child internalizing symptoms, and follow-up child altruistic prosocial behaviour. At baseline, PRF was associated with child internalizing symptoms, whilst PRF and internalizing symptoms positively predicted altruistic behaviour 1 year later. These findings suggest that mental health and caregiving experience are key influences on altruistic behaviour in childhood.

Indexed as

AltruismBehavioral SymptomsChild BehaviorParent-Child RelationsParentsSocial BehaviorAdolescentChildFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMalealtruismdepressiondictator gameinternalizing symptomsparental mentalisingparental reflective functioningprosocial behaviour

Identifiers

PMID39962726
PMCPMC12351215

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.