Belén Mesurado

The varying roles of parents and the cognitive–emotional variables regarding the different types of adolescent prosocial behavior

This article studies the relationship between parental variables (authoritative parental style, maternal and paternal challenges), empathy, and prosocial flow with different types of prosocial behaviors (prosocial behaviors toward different targets and different motivations of prosocial behavior). The sample included 539 students of both sexes (42.5% males; Mage= 19.13 years old, SD = 1.92). The hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that prosocial behaviors toward family, followed by toward friends, are motivated to a much greater extent by the parental variable than by empathy and prosocial flow. Conversely, when the prediction of prosocial behavior toward strangers was analyzed, the variables that had greater weight were prosocial flow and empathy. In relation to prosocial tendencies, the results showed that parental variables, empathy, and prosocial flow explained a similar percentage of variables in the different types of public, responsive, altruist, and anonymous prosocial tendencies.

The Hero program: Development and initial validation of an intervention program to promote prosocial behavior in adolescents

This article has a dual purpose. First, it proposes to investigate adolescents’ opinion and acceptance of the new online program called “Hero.” Second, this article studies the program’s effectiveness in promoting prosocial behavior. The sample included 51 men and women participants between the ages of 12 and 16 (average age 15.02; SD = 1.07; 49% men). All of the adolescents attended high school and belonged to a middle socioeconomic status. The results indicated that the majority of the users enjoyed participating in the Hero program and thought that it was easy to use and useful, that what they learned could be transferred to daily life, and that they would recommend the program to other adolescents. Moreover, the Hero intervention was effective in promoting prosocial behavior toward strangers and family members but not in promoting prosocial behavior toward friends.