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Updated: Aug 13, 2026
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Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Intersections Among Attachment, Empathy and Emotion Regulation in Middle Childhood
Eva Pires1, Marilia Fernandes1, Carla Fernandes1
1William James Center for Research (WJCR), ISPA-Instituto Universitário, Lisboa, Portugal.
Summary
Secure attachment in children fosters empathy, but emotion regulation does not mediate this link during middle childhood. Maternal and paternal attachment styles specifically influence cognitive and affective empathy development.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Attachment Theory
- Social Neuroscience
Background:
- Secure attachment relationships are foundational for self-regulation and empathy.
- Affective empathy involves sharing emotions, while cognitive empathy requires understanding emotional displays.
- Limited research explores emotion regulation's mediating role in attachment and empathy during middle childhood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between secure attachment and empathy in middle childhood.
- To examine the mediating role of emotion regulation (ER) in this association.
- To identify specific attachment dimensions (Safe Haven, Secure Base) linked to affective and cognitive empathy.
Main Methods:
- 214 children (8-12 years) and their primary caregivers participated.
- Children completed measures of attachment security and empathy (affective and cognitive).
- Caregivers reported on children's emotion regulation, lability, and negativity.
Main Results:
- Global emotion regulation positively correlated with cognitive empathy but not affective empathy.
- Attachment security significantly predicted children's empathy, but ER did not mediate this.
- Maternal Safe Haven and paternal Secure Base were linked to cognitive empathy; maternal Safe Haven also linked to affective empathy.
Conclusions:
- Attachment security robustly predicts socioemotional development, including empathy, in middle childhood.
- Emotion regulation does not appear to be a key mediator between attachment and empathy in this age group.
- Specific aspects of caregiver attachment (maternal SH, paternal SB) differentially relate to facets of children's empathy.
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