Parenting and temperament links to low empathy and guilt in young children
Risky Parenting and Temperament Pathways To Callous-Unemotional Traits In Early Childhood
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 ID | NIH-11257703 on NIH RePORTER |
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.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are parents and their young children (toddlers to preschool age) who can attend study visits and complete behavioral tasks and questionnaires.
Not a fit: 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.
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 performed: 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
Philadelphia, United States
- University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Waller, Rebecca — University of Pennsylvania
- Study coordinator: Waller, Rebecca
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 below.