Relationship between parental empathy and responsive caregiving for infants and young children

LU Lin; SONG Yang; YIN Keli; REN Geng; XI Lili

doi:10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0205

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Chinese Journal of Child Health Care ›› 2025, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (12) : 1323-1327. DOI: 10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0205

Original Articles

Relationship between parental empathy and responsive caregiving for infants and young children

LU Lin^1,2, SONG Yang², YIN Keli¹, REN Geng², XI Lili²

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Abstract

Objective To investigate the relationship between parental empathy and responsive caregiving for infants and young children, in order to provide a theoretical evidence for improving the quality of parenting in China by enhancing the level of parental responsive caregiving. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among parents of 304 children aged 0 - 3 years from three childcare institutions in Shaanxi Province between January and February 2025. A total of 304 valid data were collected online (via Questionnaire Star) using a general information questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI-C), and the Responsive Caregiving Rating Scale. Results Differential tests revealed statistically significant differences in responsive caregiving levels based on the different guardian role (t=3.915) and whether the parent was the primary caregiver (t=2.631) (P<0.01). Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis showed that the overall level of parental empathy significantly and positively predicted the level of responsive caregiving (β=0.257, P<0.001). Further analysis indicated that empathic concern (β=0.207), personal distress (β=-0.164), and perspective-taking (β=0.307) all had significant predictive effects on the level of responsive caregiving (P<0.01). Conclusions Other-oriented parental empathy (empathic concern and perspective-taking) positively influences responsive caregiving, whereas self-oriented parental empathy (personal distress) has a negative impact. Parenting guidance should focus on cultivating parents′ other-oriented empathic concern and perspective-taking abilities to effectively improve the quality of responsive caregiving.

Key words

responsive caregiving / parental empathy / empathic concern / perspective-taking / personal distress

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LU Lin, SONG Yang, YIN Keli, REN Geng, XI Lili. Relationship between parental empathy and responsive caregiving for infants and young children[J]. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care. 2025, 33(12): 1323-1327 https://doi.org/10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0205

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