Family economic pressure and early adolescents' prosocial behavior: The importance of considering the types of prosocial behavior

Background: Prior research findings are mixed regarding whether prosocial behavior is positively or negatively related to socioeconomic status and its correlates, such as economic pressure. This may be due to the lack of considerations for the type of prosocial behavior. Aims: In this study, we aimed to examine how six types of prosocial behavior (i.e., public, anonymous, compliant, emotional, dire, and altruistic) are related to economic pressure among early adolescents. We hypothesized that family economic pressure would be associated with each type of prosocial behavior in differing ways. Materials & Methods: Participants were 11–14 years old (N = 143, M_age = 12.2 years, SD_age = 0.87, 63 boys, 1 trans-identified boy, 55 girls), early adolescents and their parents. Among them, 54.6% were non-Hispanic/Latinx (NH/L) White, 23.8% were NH/L Black, 11.2% were NH/L Asian, 2.1% were NH/L Multiracial, and 8.4% were Hispanic/Latinx. Parents reported family economic pressure and adolescents' six types of prosocial behavior. Results: Path analysis revealed that economic pressure was negatively associated with emotional and dire prosocial behavior over and above age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Family economic pressure was unrelated to public, anonymous, compliant, and altruistic prosocial behavior. Discussion: These findings show some support for the Family Stress Model, such that economic stress might hinder youth's prosocial development. At the same time, youth may have similar levels of certain types of prosocial behavior regardless of their family's economic pressure. Conclusion: This research provided insight into the complex relation between economic pressure and youth's prosocial behavior which varies depending on the type of behavior.