The effect of empathy on the social development of preschool children: The mediating role of social adequacy

Introduction. Social development as an important part of the transformation process has many positive and negative impacts on children's mental health. The study, by emphasis on the mediating role of social competence, was done to identify the impacts of empathy on social development of preschool children. Method. The present study design was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population included Tehran’s preschool children in 2019 which 370 children were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. Vineland (1953) Social Growth Scale, Bryant Empathy Questionnaire (1982) and Bellini Social Satisfaction Questionnaire (2007) with acceptable validity and reliability were used to collect data. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data. Findings. The empathy had a direct impact on social development and social competence (β=0.24; p < 0.001) and an indirect impact on social development of children with a mediating role of social competence (β=0.12; p < 0.02). Also, social competence had a direct impact on their social growth (β=0.43; p < 0.001) and the fit indices showed that the model had a good fit. Result. The variables of empathy and social competence are effective in the social development and can be used in basic form of skills in formal education and parenting skills to prevent and treat interpersonal problems.