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Does Child Maltreatment Reduce or Increase Empathy? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Huiping Zhang1, Xinyi Gao1, Yuzhu Liang1
1Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Trauma, Violence & Abuse
|February 4, 2023
Summary
Child maltreatment is linked to lower empathy, with emotional neglect having the strongest effect. Interventions should focus on empathy enhancement for affected children.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Child Development
- Mental Health
Background:
- Child maltreatment is a significant public health issue with debated links to empathy.
- Previous research has yielded inconsistent findings regarding the association between child abuse/neglect and empathy.
Approach:
- A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to quantify the relationship between child maltreatment and empathy.
- Data were extracted from 24 studies (22,580 participants) across multiple databases and grey literature.
- Random effects models were used to pool estimates and meta-regression analyzed moderating factors.
Key Points:
- Child maltreatment is significantly associated with reduced empathy (effect size = -0.15).
- Emotional neglect showed the strongest negative association with empathy (effect size = -0.18), followed by physical neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse.
- Publication bias did not inflate findings, but age, sample size, language, measurement, and maltreatment type moderated the association.
Conclusions:
- Child maltreatment, across various forms, is consistently linked to diminished empathy.
- Findings underscore the need for targeted parent training and empathy enhancement programs for children with a history of maltreatment.
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