In their write-up of an investigation into “whether child temperament and maternal discourse about internal states help to explain individual differences in empathy- and aggression-related behaviors in toddlerhood,” (81), Garner and Dunsmore explain that “High negative emotional intensity is associated with a problematic emotion-related coping strategy (Lynch et al., 2001), and with higher levels of solitary play in a peer play situation (Fabes et al., 2002). Children higher in negative emotional intensity develop emotion understanding at a slower rate than other children, which ultimately may interfere with their ability to react appropriately in emotion-eliciting situations (Fine et al., 2006). High levels of negative emotional intensity at 14 months were linked to a decline in empathic responding by 20 months of age (Robinson et al., 1994) whereas low levels have been associated with concerned attention (Eisenberg and Fabes, 1995). Thus, we predicted that negative emotional intensity would be negatively related to empathy-related behavior. We also predicted that negative emotional intensity would be positively related to aggression because aggressive toddlers may have a lower threshold for dealing with distress in themselves and others (Gill and Calkins, 2003).” (82)
“Children,” they write, “begin to understand the intentions, desires, and feeling states of others during the second year of life (Stein and Levine, 1989; Thompson, 2005). Maternal references to mental states are associated with children’s empathy-related behavior and emotion understanding. Such discourse may foreshadow the quality of the mother–child attachment relationship long before it has formed (Meins et al., 2001). Mothers’ internal state talk is also one of the earliest predictors of young children’s understanding of the mind (Meins et al., 2002). Mothers also use mental state language to clarify their children’s mental states and to intensify their children’s awareness of others’ mental states (Brown and Dunn, 1991). Two types of maternal references have been studied in regard to empathy-related behavior and aggression: a) references to feeling states (e.g. ‘She feels very sad’” etc. (82)
“A growing number of studies have examined linkages between maternal talk about mental states and various aspects of children’s cognitive development (e.g. theory of mind, language). However, almost none have explored the role of maternal references to consequences of behavior in the development of socially, emotionally, and morally competent behavior. Much talk between parents and young children is based on instructing children about the consequences of their behavior (Smetana, 1999), which increases prosocial behavior (Zanolli et al., 1997). Accordingly, we were also interested in maternal utterances that were instructional (e.g. discussing with the child why a behavior was appropriate or inappropriate or offering an acceptable emotional or behavioral response) or that informed the child that if he/she continued showing a particular behavior that there would be a specific and appropriate consequence (e.g. time-out or taking away a toy; Pears and Moses, 2003; Snyder and Patterson, 1986; Snyder et al., 2003).” (83)
Ref: Pamela W. Garner and Julie C. Dunsmore (2011) ‘Temperament and maternal discourse about internal states as predictors of toddler empathy- and aggression-related behavior’ Journal of Early Childhood Research 9(1): 81-99
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