Parenting and temperament links to low empathy and guilt in young children
Official title: Risky Parenting and Temperament Pathways To Callous-Unemotional Traits In Early Childhood
Funded at University of Pennsylvania · NIH-11257703 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks at how parenting and young children's temperament relate to early signs of low empathy, guilt, and prosocial behavior in toddlers and preschoolers.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pennsylvania NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Philadelphia, United States) |
| Project start | January 25, 2022 |
| Project end | November 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $776,201 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH125904-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11257703 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are parents and their young children (toddlers to preschool age) who can attend study visits and complete behavioral tasks and questionnaires.
✕Less likely to help
Children without early signs of low empathy or families unable to take part in lab-based assessments are less likely to receive direct benefit from participating.
What this research studies
You and your child would take part in lab visits where researchers observe parent-child interactions, complete questionnaires, and run brief tasks that measure children's emotional reactions, attention, and physiology. The team will study children's sensitivity to threat and social cues alongside parenting behaviors like warmth, harshness, and emotion scaffolding. By following children over time and combining behavioral and biological measures, they aim to identify early markers that predict callous-unemotional traits. Those markers could point to more tailored ways to help children at risk for disruptive behaviors.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to better-targeted treatments that reduce low-empathy traits and lower the chance of later disruptive behavior problems.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies link parenting and temperament to conduct problems, but using combined behavioral, physiological, and attention measures to predict callous-unemotional traits in very young children is a newer approach.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Waller, Rebecca — University of Pennsylvania
- Study coordinator: Waller, Rebecca
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Enhancing Parenting Support in Peer Recovery Programs
Aimed at helping parents who are recovering from substance use improve parenting with tailored training and ongoing support.
-
Hope for Stronger Families: improving children's behavior by boosting family finances and parenting in Uganda
This project combines family savings and parenting support programs to help Ugandan families improve children's behavior and well-being.
-
Hope for Stronger Families: supporting family finances and parenting to help children's behavior in Uganda
This project combines savings and economic support with group parenting help to improve children's behavior and family wellbeing in Uganda.
-
Bundle of nutrition, parenting, and health support to boost young children’s development
A group of researchers will test whether adding nutritious foods and responsive caregiving to health services helps children aged 6–30 months grow and develop better.
-
Linking Daily Parental Experiences to Kids' Self-Regulation Growth in Preschoolers
This grant aims to understand how everyday parental experiences and stress influence preschoolers’ ability to manage emotions and behavior over time.
-
Prevention of Maternal Depression Across 25 Years in Diverse Contexts with a Parenting Support Program
A long-term study in low-income families will explore how mothers’ depression changes over 25 years and whether a family-focused parenting program can help reduce depressive symptoms.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.