학령후기 아동이 지각한 부·모의 공감과 또래관계에서 아동 공감의 매개효과

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to confirm the relations among parental empathy as perceived by school-aged children, children’s empathy ability, and peer relationships, as well as to verify the mediating effects of children's empathy ability on the relationship between parental empathy as perceived by children and peer relationships. The participants were 488 children in the fifth and sixth grades of elementary school. The collected data was analyzed using the SPSS and AMOS 18.0 programs. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis validated the goodness of the fit of the measurement model by confirmatory factor analysis, considering the errors that could occur in the observed variables that were composed of latent variables. Subsequently, we analyzed the structural relationship model between latent variables. The summary of the results from this study were as follows: First, the father's empathy, peer relationships, and children's empathy showed a significant correlation. In addition, the mother's empathy, peer relationships, and children's empathy showed a significant correlation. Second, as a result of validation of mediating effects of children's empathy ability on the relationship between parental empathy perceived by children and peer relationships, it was confirmed that children's empathy had a mediating effect on the relation between parental empathy and peer relationships. Specifically, the father's empathy and children's empathy in peer relationships showed a partial mediating effect, while the mother's empathy and children's empathy in the peer relationships showed full mediating effects. This means that the father's empathy directly influences children's peer relationships as well as indirectly influences children's peer relationships through children's empathy, and means that mother's empathy indirectly influences children's peer relationships through children's empathy. This study confirmed a mediating effect on children's empathy ability on the relationship between parental empathy as perceived by school-aged children and peer relationships.