Developing a parent-based empathy and compassion intervention: A pilot study

Abstract

The mental health of young children has been worsening in Hong Kong. The social and emotional learning of children is becoming a hot topic that has drawn the attention of researchers and practitioners. Parents with long working hours and the lack of necessary skills to nurture their children have worsened the situation (Zheng, 2017). Most of the time they do not know the feelings and needs of their children and conflicts arise due to a lack of communication and understanding. They failed to support their children’s social and emotional needs. Research has already indicated that parental functioning predicts children’s externalizing behaviors (Levendosky, et al., 2006). A lot of problematic behaviors in children are related to poor bonding between parents and child. It is important to pave the road to mental wellness for both parents and children with an implementable direction. Early intervention is critical as it can help prevent the situation from happening or intervene in time before it becomes too late. Parental empathy and compassion have been documented and considered important facets of supportive parenting. Therefore, the present study aimed to enhance parents’ competency to support the social and emotional needs of their children through a parent-based empathy and compassion intervention. It focused on cultivating a positive relationship between parents and their young children at the early stage of child development.

The present study adopted a single group pre-test post-test design, and we recruited 22 pairs of parent-child dyads to participate in the intervention program. Only one child per family was selected if parents have more than one child. They have attended eight weeks of parent-based empathy and compassion training, including psychoeducational workshops, individual consultation, and completed take-home assignments. The design of the parent-based intervention references the theory of change (Casey et al., 2014; Zelazo & Carlson, 2012), the developmental psychobiological model of experiential canalization (Blair & Raver, 2012), and recent literature on the importance of parent-based interventions in promoting positive parent-child relationships. The content of the intervention focused on introducing the need for empathy and compassion in facilitating supportive parenting practice. Also, it provided a platform for parents to share their challenges and difficulties with one another. It is expected that their capacity to share their children’s feelings and understand their needs will be increased and subsequently leads to a better parent-child relationship. The results of the pre-post assessment indicated that the parents have showed a significant enhancement in empathy, t (19) = 2.16, p < .05, and compassion t (19) = 2.05, p < .05. The parent-child relationship was found to be improved as well, t (19) = 2.17, p < .05. The pilot study has enriched our theoretical understanding of the important role of empathy and compassion in building supportive parenting practice that targets the social and emotional needs of young children. In practical terms, it also developed an effective parent-based empathy and compassion intervention as an early preventive approach to promoting the psychosocial well-being of parents and young children.