Developmental trajectories of empathic concern in infancy and their links to social competence in early childhood

Empathic concern is an important component of children's social competence. Yet, little is known about the role of the development of concern for others during infancy as a predictor of social competence in early childhood.Israeli infants (N = 165, 50% girls) were observed five times, from 3 to 36 months. Empathic concern was assessed at ages 3-18 months using observations, and four components of social competence were assessed at 36 months...