The influence of attachment security on preschool children’s empathic concern

The current study examined the direction of the association between children’s attachment security and empathic responding. At 42 and 48 months of age, 69 children’s empathic concern was observed, and mothers reported the children’s attachment. Results indicated that attachment at 42 months predicted empathic concern at 48 months even after controlling for the influence of previous empathic concern. Similar analyses to predict attachment at 48 months from previous empathic concern were not significant, implying that a secure attachment predicted empathic concern and not the reverse. The findings suggest that a secure attachment relationship might be one context in which children learn to respond empathically to others.