EPA-0531 - Child-Parent Relationship as a Factor in Maturing of Empathy in Children with Mental Retardation

Abstract

The capacity to empathy is an important precondition for development of social competence of a child and also for his/her overall emotional wellbeing. Therefore, the studying of the mechanisms and factors contributing to the formation of this ability is important for developing of the intervention program.

The aim of this research was to study the features of the process of empathy in children with mental retardation per se, as well as to study the relationship between child-parent relations and maturing of empathy.

The research included the following methods:

1. 1. Neuropsychological diagnosis;

2. 2. The experimental method (presentation of emotionally charged videos);

3. 3. Lüscher Color Test test;

4. 4. Self-assessment of child's emotional response;

5. 5. Drawing of a family;

6. 6. PARI- technique of E. Schäfer, and R.Bell in T.V.Netscheret's adaptation;

Statistical analysis included U-Mann-Whitney test, t-Student test and Spearman correlation analysis.

The experimental group consisted of 20 children of 6-7 years old with mental retardation (15 boys and 5 girls) and their parents. The control group included 23 children (15 girls and 8 boys) of the same age and their parents. The study has showed that the children of the control group are more emotionally responsive than the children in the experimental group. Child-parent relations in the control group were more satisfactory than in the experimental group. The positive correlation between favorable child-parent relations and the ability of the child to the emotional response has been observed in the control group, but not in the experimental group.