Social Anxiety and Aggression in Early Adolescents: Examining the Moderating Roles of Empathic Concern and Perspective Taking

• NCJ Number: 237386
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 40 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2011 Pages: 1534-1543
• Author(s): Milena D. Batanova; Alexandra Loukas
• Date Published: November 2011
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the unique and interactive contributions of social anxiety and two distinct components of empathy, empathic concern and perspective taking, to subsequent relational and overt aggression in early adolescents.

Abstract

Guided by a social information processing perspective, this study examined the unique and interactive contributions of social anxiety and two distinct components of empathy, empathic concern and perspective taking, to subsequent relational and overt aggression in early adolescents. Participants were 485 10- to 14-year old middle school students (54 percent female; 78 percent European-American) involved in two waves of a study with 1 year between each wave. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that higher levels of empathic concern were directly associated with decreases in subsequent relational and overt aggression 1 year later and buffered the impact of social anxiety on subsequent relational aggression. Although perspective taking did not moderate the impact of social anxiety on either form of aggression, it was a unique predictor of increased relational aggression 1 year later. Findings call for future research to assess both components of empathy separately as they relate to relational and overt aggression. (Published Abstract)