{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/42344"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/42344","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Dispositional empathy and physiological reactivity: joint contributions to maternal sensitivity with toddler-aged children","abstract":"The present study investigated maternal dispositional empathy and skin conductance level (SCL) reactivity in response to infant emotional cues as joint predictors of maternal sensitive behavior with their toddler-aged children. Sixty-four mother-toddler dyads (31 boys) were observed during a series of interaction tasks during a laboratory visit, and maternal sensitivity was assessed from approximately 55 minutes of observation per family. Maternal SCL reactivity to infant cues using a cry-laugh audio paradigm (Groh & Roisman, 2009) was assessed in a second mother-only laboratory visit. Mothers reported on their dispositional empathy via a questionnaire. Greater dispositional empathy was related to greater sensitivity at low, but not high, levels of SCL reactivity. Parallel analyses examining self-reported negative emotion during the cry-laugh paradigm as the moderator further supported the finding that dispositional empathy emerged as a significant predictor of sensitivity when mothers’ experienced low, rather than high, reactivity. Results are discussed in terms of specificity to type of sensitivity (distress and non-distress) and by reactivity measure.","abstract_html":"The present study investigated maternal dispositional empathy and skin conductance level (SCL) reactivity in response to infant emotional cues as joint predictors of maternal sensitive behavior with their toddler-aged children. Sixty-four mother-toddler dyads (31 boys) were observed during a series of interaction tasks during a laboratory visit, and maternal sensitivity was assessed from approximately 55 minutes of observation per family. Maternal SCL reactivity to infant cues using a cry-laugh audio paradigm (Groh & Roisman, 2009) was assessed in a second mother-only laboratory visit. Mothers reported on their dispositional empathy via a questionnaire. Greater dispositional empathy was related to greater sensitivity at low, but not high, levels of SCL reactivity. Parallel analyses examining self-reported negative emotion during the cry-laugh paradigm as the moderator further supported the finding that dispositional empathy emerged as a significant predictor of sensitivity when mothers’ experienced low, rather than high, reactivity. Results are discussed in terms of specificity to type of sensitivity (distress and non-distress) and by reactivity measure.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Emery, Helen"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Human & Community Development","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["McElwain, Nancy L."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-02-03T19:35:55Z","date_published":"2013-02-03T19:35:55Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:33Z","subjects":["Maternal sensitivity","sensitive parenting toddler-aged children","Dispositional empathy","parental empathy","skin conductance reactivity","physiological reactivity to infant cues","reactivity to infant cues"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2012 Helen Emery"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/42344","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["McElwain, Nancy L."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Emery, Helen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2013-02-03T19:35:55Z","2012-12"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Human & Community Development"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Maternal sensitivity","sensitive parenting toddler-aged children","Dispositional empathy","parental empathy","skin conductance reactivity","physiological reactivity to infant cues","reactivity to infant cues"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2012 Helen Emery"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/42344"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The present study investigated maternal dispositional empathy and skin conductance level (SCL) reactivity in response to infant emotional cues as joint predictors of maternal sensitive behavior with their toddler-aged children. 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