Longitudinal Relationships Between Reflective Functioning, Empathy, and Externalizing Behaviors During Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Longitudinal Relationships Between Reflective Functioning, Empathy, and Externalizing Behaviors During Adolescence and Young Adulthood
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DOI：
10.1007/s10578-019-00910-8
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发表时间：
2019-07
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Larisa Morosan;Paolo Ghisletta;Deborah Badoud;E. Toffel;S. Eliez;M. Debbané
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Larisa Morosan;Paolo Ghisletta;Deborah Badoud;E. Toffel;S. Eliez;M. Debbané
反思功能（RF）是指从心理状态上理解自己和他人的行为，而共情则是理解（认知共情）和分享（情感共情）他人情绪的能力。低RF和低同理心先前与外化行为有关，如攻击和破坏规则。然而，很少有纵向研究同时调查了青春期这些变量之间的关系。本研究的目的是调查RF和共情对外化行为随时间变化的纵向影响，研究对象是103名青少年和年轻人，他们的外化行为被反复评估了多达4次。为了检验RF和共情对外化行为初始水平和轨迹的影响，我们进行了多水平分析，同时考虑了其他与外化行为相关的变量，如年龄、性别、内化问题和认知能力。研究结果表明，从精神状态角度反思行为的能力预示着随着时间的推移，外化行为会急剧减少。此外，第一次评估时的外化行为与RF障碍和低情感共情有关。年龄、性别、认知能力和认知共情与外化行为无关。我们讨论了基于典型发展人群的研究结果，如何通过关注社会认知过程（如RF和情感共情），为外化行为的主要或指示预防策略提供信息。
Reflective functioning (RF) refers to the understanding of one’s own and others’ behaviors in terms of mental states, whereas empathy entails the abilities to understand (cognitive empathy) and to share (affective empathy) the emotions of others. Low RF and low empathy have been previously related to externalizing behaviors, such as aggression and rule breaking. However, few longitudinal studies have simultaneously examined the relationships between these variables during adolescence. The aim of the present study is to investigate the longitudinal effects of both RF and empathy on potential changes in externalizing behaviors over time, in a group of 103 adolescents and young adults from the general population assessed repeatedly up to four times. We conducted multilevel analysis in order to examine the effects of RF and empathy on the initial levels and the trajectories of externalizing behaviors over time, while accounting for other variables previously associated with externalizing behaviors, such as age, gender, internalizing problems, and cognitive abilities. The results suggest that the ability to reflect on behaviors in terms of mental states predicted a sharper decrease in externalizing behaviors over time. Moreover, externalizing behaviors at the first assessment were associated with RF impairments and low affective empathy. Age, gender, cognitive abilities, and cognitive empathy were not associated with externalizing behaviors. We discuss how our results, based on a typically developing population, might inform primary or indicated prevention strategies for externalizing behaviors by focusing on socio-cognitive processes such as RF and affective empathy.