Empathy & Mentalization: Childhood Trauma & Social Decisions

by Ibrahim Khalil - World Editor
0 comments
  • Fehr, E. & Camerer, C. F. Social neuroeconomics: the neural circuitry of social preferences. Trends Cogn. Sci. 11, 419–427 (2007).

    Google Scholar

  • Krueger, F., Grafman, J. & McCabe, K. Neural correlates of economic game playing. Philosophical Trans. Royal Soc. B: Biol. Sci. 363, 3859–3874 (2008).

    Google Scholar

  • Lehmann, K., Böckler, A., Klimecki, O., Müller-Liebmann, C. & Kanske, P. Empathy and correct mental state inferences both promote prosociality. Sci. Rep. 12, 16979 (2022).

    Google Scholar

  • Gross, J. T., Stern, J. A., Brett, B. E. & Cassidy, J. The multifaceted nature of prosocial behavior in children: links with attachment theory and research. Soc. Dev. 26, 661–678 (2017).

    Google Scholar

  • Fonagy, P. & Allison, E. In Minding the Child 11–34 (Routledge, 2013).

  • Zhang, H., Gao, X., Liang, Y., Yao, Q. & Wei, Q. Does child maltreatment reduce or increase empathy? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma. Violence Abuse. 25, 166–182 (2024).

    Google Scholar

  • Yang, L. & Huang, M. Childhood maltreatment and mentalizing capacity: A meta-analysis. Child Abuse Negl. 149, 106623 (2024).

    Google Scholar

  • Lippard, E. T. & Nemeroff, C. B. The devastating clinical consequences of child abuse and neglect: increased disease vulnerability and poor treatment response in mood disorders. Am. J. Psychiatry. 180, 548–564 (2023).

    Google Scholar

  • Organization, W. H. Child maltreatment, (2024). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/child-maltreatment

  • Hillis, S., Mercy, J., Amobi, A. & Kress, H. Global prevalence of past-year violence against children: a systematic review and minimum estimates. Pediatrics 137, e20154079 (2016).

    Google Scholar

  • Stoltenborgh, M., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Alink, L. R. & van IJzendoorn, M. H. The prevalence of child maltreatment across the globe: review of a series of meta‐analyses. Child Abuse Rev. 24, 37–50 (2015).

    Google Scholar

  • Feit, M., Joseph, J. & Petersen, A. C. New directions in child abuse and neglect research. (2014).

  • Fereidooni, F., Daniels, J. K. & Lommen, M. J. Childhood maltreatment and revictimization: A systematic literature review. Trauma. Violence Abuse. 25, 291–305 (2024).

    Google Scholar

  • Giourou, E. et al. Complex posttraumatic stress disorder: the need to consolidate a distinct clinical syndrome or to Reevaluate features of psychiatric disorders following interpersonal trauma? World J. Psychiatry. 8, 12 (2018).

    Google Scholar

  • Decety, J. The neural pathways, development and functions of empathy. Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci. 3, 1–6 (2015).

    Google Scholar

  • Vachon, D. D. & Lynam, D. R. Fixing the problem with empathy: development and validation of the affective and cognitive measure of empathy. Assessment 23, 135–149 (2016).

    Google Scholar

  • Atak, H., Jencius, M., Albay, A., Karatekin, S. & Tuzcuoğlu, F. K. Schadenfreude: A conceptual review. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar. 17, 598–622 (2024).

    Google Scholar

  • Davidov, M. et al. Empathy development from birth to three: advances in knowledge from 2000 to 2025. Infant Behav. Dev. 81, 102144 (2025).

    Google Scholar

  • Farrant, B. M., Devine, T. A., Maybery, M. T. & Fletcher, J. Empathy, perspective taking and prosocial behaviour: the importance of parenting practices. Infant Child. Dev. 21, 175–188 (2012).

    Google Scholar

  • Gordon, M. Roots of empathy: responsive parenting, caring societies. Keio J. Med. 52, 236–243 (2003).

    Google Scholar

  • Roberts, W. & Strayer, J. Empathy, emotional expressiveness, and prosocial behavior. Child Dev. 67, 449–470 (1996).

    Google Scholar

  • Wagers, K. B. & Kiel, E. J. The influence of parenting and temperament on empathy development in toddlers. J. Fam. Psychol. 33, 391 (2019).

    Google Scholar

  • Decety, J. & Holvoet, C. The emergence of empathy: A developmental neuroscience perspective. Dev. Rev. 62, 100999 (2021).

    Google Scholar

  • Levy, J., Goldstein, A. & Feldman, R. The neural development of empathy is sensitive to caregiving and early trauma. Nat. Commun. 10, 1905 (2019).

    Google Scholar

  • Meidan, A., Shalev, I. & Uzefovsky, F. The role of maltreatment risk in the interplay between maternal and child’s empathy over time. Child Maltreatment (2025). https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595251337074

  • Kahhale, I., Byrd, A. & Hanson, J. Early life adversity and empathy: A scoping review of past research and recommendations for future directions. Clinical Child. Family Psychol. Review. 28, 275–321 (2025).

  • Bateman, A. W. & Fonagy, P. Mentalization-based treatment of BPD. J. Personal. Disord. 18, 36–51 (2004).

    Google Scholar

  • Choi-Kain, L. W., Gunderson, J. G. & Mentalization Ontogeny, assessment, and application in the treatment of borderline personality disorder. Am. J. Psychiatry. 165, 1127–1135 (2008).

    Google Scholar

  • Dimitrijević, A., Hanak, N. & Altaras Dimitrijević, A. Jolić Marjanović, Z. The mentalization scale (MentS): A self-report measure for the assessment of mentalizing capacity. J. Pers. Assess. 100, 268–280 (2018).

    Google Scholar

  • Wu, H., Liu, X., Hagan, C. C. & Mobbs, D. Mentalizing during social interaction: A four component model. Cortex 126, 242–252 (2020).

    Google Scholar

  • Dubé, G. et al. Mentalisation et comportements extério-risés Chez les Enfants d’âge scolaire hébergés En centre jeunesse: Une étude exploratoire. Revue De psychoéducation. 48, 347–371 (2019).

    Google Scholar

  • Hooker, C. I., Verosky, S. C., Germine, L. T., Knight, R. T. & D’Esposito, M. Mentalizing about emotion and its relationship to empathy. Soc. Cognit. Affect. Neurosci. 3, 204–217 (2008).

    Google Scholar

  • Kim, S. The Mind in the making: developmental and Neurobiological origins of mentalizing. Personality Disorders: Theory Res. Treat. 6, 356 (2015).

    Google Scholar

  • Lapointe, F. Regard Sur Le développement De La Mentalisation Chez Les Enfants Victimes De Traumas Complexes (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 2023).

  • Luyten, P. & Fonagy, P. Mentalizing and trauma. Handb. Mentalizing Mental Health Pract. 2, 79–99 (2019).

    Google Scholar

  • Francoeur, A. et al. Social cognition as mediator of romantic breakup adjustment in young adults who experienced childhood maltreatment. J. Aggress. Maltreatment Trauma. 29, 1125–1142 (2020).

    Google Scholar

  • Rilling, J. K. & Sanfey, A. G. The neuroscience of social decision-making. Ann. Rev. Psychol. 62, 23–48 (2011).

    Google Scholar

  • Camerer, C. F. Behavioral Game Theory: Experiments in Strategic Interaction (Princeton University Press, 2011).

  • Böckler, A., Tusche, A. & Singer, T. The structure of human prosociality: differentiating altruistically motivated, norm motivated, strategically motivated, and self-reported prosocial behavior. Social Psychol. Personality Sci. 7, 530–541 (2016).

    Google Scholar

  • Brañas-Garza, P., Espín, A. M., Herrmann, B., Kujal, P. & Nagel, R. Vol. 10 243 (2016). (Frontiers Media SA.

  • Peysakhovich, A., Nowak, M. A. & Rand, D. G. Humans display a ‘cooperative phenotype’that is domain general and temporally stable. Nat. Commun. 5, 4939 (2014).

    Google Scholar

  • Espinosa, L., Golkar, A. & Olsson, A. in The neural basis of mentalizing 517–536Springer, (2021).

  • Luo, Y. et al. Early childhood investment impacts social decision-making four decades later. Nat. Commun. 9, 4705 (2018).

    Google Scholar

  • Raby, K. L. et al. The legacy of early abuse and neglect for social and academic competence from childhood to adulthood. Child Dev. 90, 1684–1701 (2019).

    Google Scholar

  • Degli Esposti, M., Pereira, S. M. P., Humphreys, D. K., Sale, R. D. & Bowes, L. Child maltreatment and the risk of antisocial behaviour: A population-based cohort study spanning 50 years. Child Abuse Negl. 99, 104281 (2020).

    Google Scholar

  • Afifi, T. O., Fortier, J., Sareen, J. & Taillieu, T. Associations of harsh physical punishment and child maltreatment in childhood with antisocial behaviors in adulthood. JAMA Netw. open. 2, e187374–e187374 (2019).

    Google Scholar

  • Ran, G., Zhang, Q., Zhang, Q., Li, J. & Chen, J. The association between child abuse and aggressive behavior: A three-level meta-analysis. Trauma. Violence Abuse. 24, 3461–3475 (2023).

    Google Scholar

  • Stormo, J. J., Ortiz-Barreda, G. & Hollekim, R. Relational experiences as explanatory factors for the development of criminal and antisocial behavior: A scoping review. Adolesc. Res. Rev. 2, 213–227 (2017).

    Google Scholar

  • Vachon, D. D., Lynam, D. R. & Johnson, J. A. The (non) relation between empathy and aggression: surprising results from a meta-analysis. Psychol. Bull. 140, 751 (2014).

    Google Scholar

  • De Vignemont, F. & Singer, T. The empathic brain: how, when and why? Trends Cogn. Sci. 10, 435–441 (2006).

    Google Scholar

  • Fonagy, P., Campbell, C. & Luyten, P. Mentalizing. (2017).

  • Civai, C. & Sanfey, A. In the Neural Basis of Mentalizing 503–516 (Springer, 2021).

  • Singer, T. & Fehr, E. The neuroeconomics of Mind reading and empathy. Am. Econ. Rev. 95, 340–345 (2005).

    Google Scholar

  • Yu, G., Li, S. & Zhao, F. Childhood maltreatment and prosocial behavior among Chinese adolescents: roles of empathy and gratitude. Child Abuse Negl. 101, 104319 (2020).

    Google Scholar

  • Masui, K. Interactional effects of adverse childhood experiences, psychopathy, and everyday sadism on internet trolling. Pers. Indiv. Differ. 214, 112327 (2023).

    Google Scholar

  • Schwarzer, N. H., Nolte, T., Fonagy, P. & Gingelmaier, S. Mentalizing mediates the association between emotional abuse in childhood and potential for aggression in non-clinical adults. Child Abuse Negl. 115, 105018 (2021).

    Google Scholar

  • Hepp, J., Schmitz, S. E., Urbild, J., Zauner, K. & Niedtfeld, I. Childhood maltreatment is associated with distrust and negatively biased emotion processing. Borderline Personality Disorder Emot. Dysregulation. 8, 5 (2021).

    Google Scholar

  • Bernstein, D. P. et al. Development and validation of a brief screening version of the childhood trauma questionnaire. Child Abuse Negl. 27, 169–190 (2003).

    Google Scholar

  • Spinhoven, P. et al. Childhood trauma questionnaire: factor structure, measurement invariance, and validity across emotional disorders. Psychol. Assess. 26, 717 (2014).

    Google Scholar

  • Callaway, F., Hardy, M. & Griffiths, T. L. Optimal nudging for cognitively bounded agents: A framework for modeling, predicting, and controlling the effects of choice architectures. Psychol. Rev. 130, 1457 (2023).

    Google Scholar

  • Pulford, B. D., Colman, A. M. & Loomes, G. Incentive magnitude effects in experimental games: bigger is not necessarily better. Games 9, 4 (2018).

    Google Scholar

  • IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 29.0. Armonk, NY, (2022).

  • Benjamini, Y. & Hochberg, Y. Controlling the false discovery rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. J. Roy. Stat. Soc.: Ser. B (Methodol.). 57, 289–300 (1995).

    Google Scholar

  • Hayes, A. F. Introduction To mediation, moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A regression-based Approach (Guilford, 2017).

  • Fehr, E. & Fischbacher, U. Third-party punishment and social norms. Evol. Hum. Behav. 25, 63–87 (2004).

    Google Scholar

  • Charness, G., Cobo-Reyes, R. & Jiménez, N. An investment game with third-party intervention. J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 68, 18–28 (2008).

    Google Scholar

  • Jordan, J. J. & Rand, D. G. Signaling when no one is watching: A reputation heuristics account of outrage and punishment in one-shot anonymous interactions. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 118, 57 (2020).

    Google Scholar

  • Moshagen, M., Hilbig, B. E. & Zettler, I. The dark core of personality. Psychol. Rev. 125, 656 (2018).

    Google Scholar

  • Lange, J. & Boecker, L. Schadenfreude as social-functional dominance regulator. Emotion 19, 489 (2019).

    Google Scholar

  • Erzi, S. Dark triad and schadenfreude: mediating role of moral disengagement and relational aggression. Pers. Indiv. Differ. 157, 109827 (2020).

    Google Scholar

  • Spector, P. E. Do not cross me: optimizing the use of cross-sectional designs. J. Bus. Psychol. 34, 125–137 (2019).

    Google Scholar

  • Paulhus, D. & Vazire, S. The self-report method In Robins RW, Fraley RC, & Krueger RF (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in personality psychology (pp. 224–239). New York, NY: Guilford Press.[Google Scholar] (2007).

  • Viola, T. W. et al. The influence of geographical and economic factors in estimates of childhood abuse and neglect using the childhood trauma questionnaire: A worldwide meta-regression analysis. Child Abuse Negl. 51, 1–11 (2016).

    Google Scholar

  • Russotti, J. et al. Child maltreatment and the development of psychopathology: the role of developmental timing and chronicity. Child Abuse Negl. 120, 105215 (2021).

    Google Scholar

  • Dalgleish, T. & Werner-Seidler, A. Disruptions in autobiographical memory processing in depression and the emergence of memory therapeutics. Trends Cogn. Sci. 18, 596–604 (2014).

    Google Scholar

  • Goltermann, J. et al. Temporal stability and state-dependence of retrospective self-reports of childhood maltreatment in healthy and depressed adults. Psychol. Assess. 35, 12 (2023).

    Google Scholar

  • Berthelot, N. et al. Resolving trauma: the unique contribution of trauma-specific mentalization to maternal insightfulness. Dev. Psychopathol. 37, 1280–1293 (2025).

    Google Scholar

  • Berthelot, N. & Garon-Bissonnette, J. Characterizing the heterogeneity of disruptions in the resolution of trauma among women exposed to childhood maltreatment. Dev. Psychopathol. 37, 1176–1189 (2025).

    Google Scholar

  • date: 2026-02-14 05:43:00

    Related Posts

    Leave a Comment