ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine whether empathy is capable of mediating the relationship between perceived parental support and juvenile delinquency. This hypothesis was tested in a path analysis of 3,865 (51% male) Australian schoolchildren (mean age = 12.4 years at first wave) using three waves of data with two years between each wave. The dependent variable (juvenile delinquency) was regressed onto cross-lagged independent and mediating latent variables (perceived parental support and empathy). As predicted, the pathway running from perceived parental support to empathy to delinquency was significant, the pathway running from empathy to perceived parental support to delinquency was nonsignificant, and the difference between the two pathways was significant. These findings indicate that parental support, as perceived and reported by the child, is instrumental in promoting empathy, which, in turn, may protect the youth against future delinquency.

摘要

本研究的目的是确定同理心是否能够调节感知到的父母支持与青少年犯罪之间的关系。这一假设在对 3,865 名（51% 男性）澳大利亚学童（第一波平均年龄 = 12.4 岁）的路径分析中使用三波数据进行了检验，每波数据间隔两年。因变量（青少年犯罪）回归到交叉滞后的独立和中介潜在变量（感知的父母支持和同理心）。正如预测的那样，从感知父母支持到同情到犯罪的路径是显着的，从同情到感知父母支持到犯罪的路径不显着，并且两种路径之间的差异是显着的。这些发现表明，父母的支持，