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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
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Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Emotion Regulation and Empathy in Child Abuse Potential: Gender Differences in Parents
Sarah Miragoli1, Luca Milani1, Elena Camisasca1,2
1Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy.
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
|July 17, 2026
Summary
Parental emotional regulation and empathy impact child maltreatment risk. Empathy
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Social Information Processing model highlights how parental cognitive and affective deficits can impair parenting.
- Understanding factors influencing parenting is crucial for preventing child maltreatment.
- Previous research indicates links between parental emotional regulation, empathy, and parenting outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationships among risk of child maltreatment (Child Abuse Potential, CAP), emotional regulation, and empathy in parents.
- To explore gender differences in these relationships.
- To examine the moderating role of empathy between emotion regulation and CAP.
Main Methods:
- Community sample of 110 Italian fathers and 149 mothers of children aged 6-14 years.
- Correlational analyses were used to examine the relationships.
- Moderation models were employed to test the role of empathy.
Main Results:
- Risk of child maltreatment was associated with difficulties in emotion regulation and empathy.
- Gender moderated these associations.
- In fathers, perspective-taking moderated the link between impulse control difficulties, emotion regulation, and CAP. In mothers, empathic concern moderated the link between emotion recognition/awareness difficulties and CAP.
Conclusions:
- Parental emotional regulation and empathy are significantly related to the risk of child maltreatment.
- Empathy plays a moderating role, with specific facets (perspective-taking, empathic concern) influencing different aspects of emotion regulation and CAP differently in fathers and mothers.
- Findings have clinical implications for targeted interventions to support parenting and prevent child maltreatment.
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