Zolghadri P.
(2026). The Investigating the Mediating Role of Empathy in the Relationship Between Parental Reflective Functioning and Behavioral Problems of Sixth Grade Male Students. Rooyesh. 14(12), 87-96.
URL: http://frooyesh.ir/article-1-6570-en.html
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran. , zolghadri@pnu.ac.ir
Abstract: (139 Views)
The aim of the present study was to determine the mediating role of empathy in the relationship between parental reflective functioning and behavioral problems of sixth-grade male elementary school students. The research method was a descriptive-correlational structural modeling study. The statistical population included sixth-grade male students in Khodabandeh city in the academic year 2024-2025, of which 220 were selected as samples using the available sampling method. The research tools included the Children's Obstinacy and Disobedience Disorder and Conduct Questionnaire (ODCDQ) by Motameddin et al. (2021), the Children and Adolescents Empathy Questionnaire (CA-EmQue) by Orgavo et al. (2017), and the parental reflective functioning questionnaire (PRFQ) by Levitan et al. (2017). Structural equation analysis was used to analyze the data. The results indicated a favorable fit of the research model. The results indicated a significant direct effect of the pre-mentalization component (P=0.004) and interest and curiosity (P=0.005) on empathy. The results also indicated a significant direct effect of empathy (P=0.009) and the certainty of mental states (P=0.05) on behavioral problems. The results also indicated an indirect effect of pre-mentalization and interest and curiosity on behavioral problems mediated by empathy (P=0.005). These results indicate that empathy, considering the role of parental reflective functioning, can explain students' behavioral disorders.
Type of Article:
Research |
Subject:
Educational Psychology Received: 2025/09/12 | Accepted: 2025/10/9 | ePublished: 2026/03/1