Study On The Relationship Among Parental Differential Treatment,sibling Relationship,Empathy And Prosocial Behavior Of Senior High School Students

Parental differential treatment is defined as the difference of children’s perception of their parents’ affection and control between themselves and their siblings.The sibling relationship is defined as the relationship formed by two or more children in a family unit and the mutual influence and communication between the children.Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the emotions of others and to respond appropriately to the situations and experiences of others.Prosocial behavior is defined as behavior that is voluntarily provided by individuals,meeting social expectations,and benefiting others and society.Research purpose: To examine the relationship between differential parental treatment,sibling relationships,empathy and pro-social behaviour among high school students,and to provide educational recommendations for prompting pro-social behaviour,decreasing parental differential treatment and cultivating sibling relationship of high school students in multi-child families.Research methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted using the Sibling Difference Experience Scale(SIDE-C),the Chinese version of the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire(SRQ),the Chinese version of the Basic Empathy Scale(BES)and the Chinese version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire(SDQ)on 627 high school students from three high schools in Harbin,Heilongjiang Province and Guang’an,Sichuan Province.Research results:(1)The level of parental differential treatment among high school students was at an intermediate level,with male students reporting higher levels of parental differential treatment than female students.The age interval group of 9+ years reported higher levels of parental differential treatment than the age interval groups of 6-9 years and 3-6years,and higher than the age interval group of 0-3 years.(2)Sibling relationships among high school students were at the middle upper level,with male students reporting higher levels of sibling rights comparison than female students.The age interval group of 9+ years reported higher levels of reported lower levels of sibling relationship scores than age interval group of 0-3 years,3-6years,and 6-9 years.(3)High school students’ empathy levels were at the middle upper level.Female students scored higher than male students on both empathy and cognitive empathy.The students of the second and third graders reported higher levels of empathy and all dimensions than the students of the first grade at senior high school.And high school students from urban areas reported higher levels of empathy than those from rural areas.(4)High school students’ levels of pro-social behaviour were at the middle upper level,with female students reporting higher levels of pro-social behavior than male students.The students of the third graders reported higher levels of pro-social behaviour than the students of the first grade at senior high school.(5)High school students’ sibling relationship and empathy mediated significantly between differential parental treatment and pro-social behaviour alone,and the chain mediating effect of sibling relationship and empathy between differential parental treatment and pro-social behaviour was also significant.Research conclusion: Differential parental treatment not only directly affects high school students’ pro-social behaviour,but also influences sibling relationships and empathy,which in turn affect pro-social behaviour.The higher the level of parental differential treatment,the lower the pro-social behaviour.Therefore,as a support system for high school students,the family,school and society can take appropriate measures to reduce parental differential treatment in multi-child families,build good sibling relationships and develop empathy to increase high school students’ pro-social behaviour,which is beneficial to their physical and mental health.