Adolescents who had emotional support from friends and relatives, and who were biologically prepared to respond well to others, were more likely to exhibit prosocial behavior and empathy for others as they entered young adulthood, compared to adolescents without that kind of backing. The findings came from a recent University of California, Davis, study of Mexican-origin teens living in the United States. 

The study is part of a continuing assessment of multiple generations of Mexican-origin families living in the United States called the California Families Project. This was the first of these studies to look at how the adolescents’ physiology and relationships worked together to support positive development across the teen years, researchers said. 

“We give a lot of attention to adolescents’ problems, and of course that’s important, but we also need to learn more about what helps youths to thrive and live better lives as kind and caring adults,” said Paul Hastings, professor of psychology and the lead author of the paper. 

Hastings said the research is important when one considers that in California more than half of children and adolescents identify as Latino or Latinx, and the majority of these families identify Mexico as their country of origin. The people studied were living in Northern California at the time.

The study found that family support predicted the youths’ helpful and compassionate actions toward people they were close to, whereas youths who had good friend support systems became more engaged in volunteer work and other helpful community actions by 19 years of age. In addition, adolescents with physiology that prepared them to be sensitive to others were more likely to be empathic, helpful and kind.

The study was published in Developmental Psychology, a journal of the American Psychological Association, in August. 

Researchers looked at 229 Mexican-origin adolescents from fifth grade onward (ages 10 through 19), with data collected from 2006 through 2016. They assessed adolescents’ electrocardiography (heart rate activity), their socialization in relationships with family and friends, and multiple aspects of their prosocial tendencies, including empathy, helpfulness, kindness and civic engagement with their communities. 

The study was performed by researchers conducting individual assessments using questionnaires, behavioral tasks, and physiological monitoring of the youths’ ability to manage their physiological arousal. Youths reported on social support they received from family and friends in surveys between ages 10 to 16. They then had their baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia, or RSA, measured at 17. Empathy and prosocial behavior were assessed at ages 17 and 19.

“The unique benefit of having supportive friendships was evident for emerging adults’ engagement in broader community-oriented prosocial behaviors,” researchers wrote.

“This finding suggests that feeling secure and connected may be particularly important for youths to be prepared to engage with the broader community,” Hastings said. 

Additional authors of the paper include Jonas Miller, University of Connecticut; Davis G. Weissman, California State University Dominguez Hills; Gustavo Carlo, UC Irvine; and from UC Davis, Richard W. Robins (psychology), Amanda E. Guyer (human ecology), and Ryan T. Hodge (human development).

The research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.