The Double-Edged sword of parental empathy in parenting practice and its association with children’s externalizing and internalizing problems

Numerous studies highlight the double-edged sword effect of empathy on individual’s multidimensional outcomes. Research has shown that empathy dimensions, such as self-oriented contagion, may exacerbate the occurrence of maladaptive behaviors, while other-oriented concern dimension can benefit the emergence of prosocial behaviors. However, the dual impact of empathy within parenting practice remains insufficiently explored. This longitudinal study of early school-age children (across three developmental stages at 7, 9, and 11 years old, N = 146) aimed to examine the influence of parental empathy (contagion and concern), as measured by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and Empathy Index, on parenting behaviors and children’s externalizing and internalizing problems. Additionally, the study explored the mediating role of parenting behaviors in the relationship between parental empathy and children’s externalizing and internalizing problems, with a specific focus on gender differences among parents. The results revealed that parents’ concern positively predicted positive parenting, while contagion positively predicted negative parenting only found in the mother sample. Moreover, parents’ negative parenting mediated the relationship between their contagion traits and children’s externalizing problems, and mothers’ negative parenting also mediated the relationship between their concern and children’s externalizing problems. Additionally, mothers’ positive parenting was identified as a fully mediating variable in the prediction of children’s problem behaviors by mothers’ concern traits. These findings are of significant importance for understanding the double-edged sword effect of empathy in human society, providing a new perspective for promoting positive parenting practice and preventing the emergence of children’s externalizing problems.