Child maltreatment risk mediates the association between maternal and child empathy

Empathy deficits are related to parental maltreatment, and early exposure to maltreatment is associated with later impairments in social and interpersonal skills, possibly as the result of specific deficits in cognitive and emotional empathy. To examine the association between maternal and child's emotional and cognitive empathy, and how this relationship is mediated by maltreatment risk. 462 mothers of 4–10 years olds (48 % girls; M = 6.51 ±...