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. 2024 Aug 31;5(2):e12282.
doi: 10.1002/jcv2.12282. eCollection 2025 Jun.

Longitudinal associations between youth prosocial behavior and dimensions of psychopathology

Gabrielle E Reimann  1 , Benjamin B Lahey  2 , Hee Jung Jeong  1 , E Leighton Durham  1 , Camille Archer  1 , Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez  3 , Marc G Berman  4   5 , Tyler M Moore  6 , Brooks Applegate  7 , Antonia N Kaczkurkin  1
Affiliations

Longitudinal associations between youth prosocial behavior and dimensions of psychopathology

Gabrielle E Reimann et al. JCPP Adv. .

Abstract

Background: Studies suggest that prosocial behavior, having high empathy and engaging in behaviors intended to benefit others, may predict mental health or vice versa; however, these findings have been mixed. The purpose of the current study was to examine the bidirectional relationships between prosocial behavior and dimensions of psychopathology in children.

Methods: The relationships between prosocial behavior and four dimensions of psychopathology (general psychopathology, internalizing symptoms, conduct problems, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms) were examined longitudinally in children 9-12 years of age from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (N = 9122). We used a random intercept cross-lagged panel model to distinguish between stable, trait-like (between-person) and time-dependent (within-person) fluctuations across a 24-month period.

Results: Between-person results revealed that prosocial behavior was negatively associated with general psychopathology and conduct problems while being positively associated with internalizing symptoms. Within-person results demonstrated that, out of four possible directional paths tested, one was significant. This path showed that greater general psychopathology and conduct problems at the first-year follow-up predicted fewer prosocial behaviors at the second-year follow-up, although the effect size was small. In contrast, prosocial behavior did not predict psychopathology dimensions for any year.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that prosocial behaviors have stable associations with psychopathology across preadolescence; however, evidence of a directional association in which psychopathology predicts fewer prosocial behaviors in the future was only modest.

Keywords: attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder; conduct problems; general psychopathology; internalizing; prosocial behavior.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared no competing or potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Random intercept cross‐lagged panel model of general psychopathology and prosocial behavior.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Random intercept cross‐lagged panel model of conduct problems and prosocial behavior.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Random intercept cross‐lagged panel model of internalizing symptoms and prosocial behavior. INT, internalizing.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Random intercept cross‐lagged panel model of ADHD symptoms and prosocial behavior. ADHD, attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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