Roots of Empathy
Roots of Empathy is a universal classroom-based programme delivered to children from reception to year nine.
The programme consists of 27 sessions delivered by a trained instructor.
Nine classroom visits by a local parent and baby are central to the programme. The instructor coaches the students to observe the baby’s development and to label the baby’s feelings. The programme consists of nine core themes based around the baby. The baby acts as a catalyst that the instructor uses to help children identify and reflect on their own feelings and the feelings of others.
EIF Programme Assessment
Child outcomes
This programme can affect outcomes for children in Active and healthy, physical and mental wellbeing.
According to the best available evidence for this programme's impact, it can achieve the following positive outcomes for children:
Preventing crime, violence and antisocial behaviour
Reduced relational aggression (teacher rated)
based on study 1
Reduced proactive aggression (teacher rated)
based on study 1
Improved prosocial behaviour (teacher rated)
based on study 2
This programme also has evidence of supporting positive outcomes for couples, parents or families that may be relevant to a commissioning decision. Please see About the evidence for more detail.
Who is it for?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to the following age-groups:
Primary school Preadolescents
How is it delivered?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to implementation through these delivery models:
- Group
Where is it delivered?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to its implementation in these settings:
- Primary school
How is it targeted?
The best available evidence for this programme relates to its implementation as:
- Universal
Where has it been implemented?
- Australia
- Canada
- England
- Germany
- Ireland
- New Zealand
- Northern Ireland
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Wales
Ireland provision
Ireland evaluation
About the programme
What happens during the delivery?
How is it delivered?
- Roots of Empathy is delivered in 27 sessions of 30-40 minutes’ duration each by an instructor to a classroom of children.
What happens during the intervention?
- Roots of Empathy consists of 27 sessions which cover nine themes and include nine visits from a local parent and baby (two to four months at the start).
- The nine themes, which relate to the baby, are as follows: Meeting the Baby, Crying, Caring and Planning for the Baby, Emotions, Safety, Sleep, Communication, Who Am I? Goodbye and Good Wishes.
- Each theme involves three lessons: (1) a pre-family visit that introduces the theme; (2) a class visit by the infant and parent, where the instructor directs interactions and observations with baby and parent; and (3) a post-family visit where the students are guided to discuss the baby’s visit and conclude the theme.
- During the intervention, children become engaged in lessons through stories, art projects and general classroom activities in which they reflect and discuss their own emotions and the emotions of others.
What are the implementation requirements?
Who can deliver it?
- The practitioner who delivers this programme is a volunteer with recommended NFQ-level 6.
What are the training requirements?
- Practitioners have four days’ training and ongoing mentor support. Booster training of practitioners is recommended.
How are the practitioners supervised?
- It is recommended that practitioners are supervised by one external supervisor (qualified to NFQ-level 6 with 1.5 days’ training, as well as ongoing mentoring).
What are the systems for maintaining fidelity?
- Provision of a training manual
- Other printed material
- Other online material
- Video or DVD training
- Face-to-face training
- Fidelity monitoring
Is there a licensing requirement?
There is no licence required to run this programme.
How does it work? (Theory of Change)
How does it work?
- Roots of Empathy is based on research and theory stating that emotion processes and social understanding play critical roles in children’s interpersonal relationships and social behaviours, including aggression.
- Over the school year, through guided observations of the loving relationship between parent and baby, children learn the affective aspect of empathy (emotion) and the cognitive aspect of empathy (perspective taking).
- Children develop emotional literacy as they identify and label the baby’s feelings, reflect on and understand their own feelings and then bridge to understanding the feelings of others.
- By the end of the school year, children who participate in the Roots of Empathy programme show a decrease in aggression, including bullying, and an increase in prosocial behaviours. Children learn to regulate their emotions, building resilience and contributing to their wellbeing.
Intended outcomes
- Active and healthy, physical and mental wellbeing
- Safe and protected from harm
Contact details
Katie Cohen
UK Manager, Roots of Empathy
kcohen@rootsofempathy.org
About the evidence
Roots of Empathy’s most rigorous evidence comes from a QED which was conducted in Canada (Schonert-Reichl et al. 2012) and an RCT which was conducted in Northern Ireland (Connolly et al. 2018). These studies identified statistically significant positive impact on a number of child outcomes.
A programme receives the same rating as its most robust studies, which in this case are the Schonert-Reichl et al (2012) and the Connolly et al (2018) studies, and so the programme receives a Level 2+ rating overall
Study 1
| Citation: | Schonert-Reichl et al. 2012 |
| Design: | QED |
| Country: | Canada |
| Sample: | Children from fourth to seventh grades of 28 public elementary schools. The final sample consisted of 585 children (280 girls, 305 boys). The mean age was 10 years, 7 months. |
| Timing: | Post-intervention |
| Child outcomes: |
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| Other outcomes: | |
| Study rating: | 2+ |
Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Smith, V., Zaidman-Zait, A., & Hertzman, C. (2012). Promoting children’s prosocial behaviors in school: Impact of the “Roots of Empathy” programme on the social and emotional competence of school-aged children. School Mental Health, 4(1), 1–21.
Available at:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12310-011-9064-7
Study design and sample
This study is a QED. The programme classrooms were matched with respect to gender of teacher, class size, grade level, and child characteristics.
This study was conducted in Canada and it involved children from fourth to seventh grades of 28 public elementary schools. 14 intervention classrooms and 14 control classrooms were included. The final sample consisted of 585 children with a mean age of 10 years, 7 months.
Measures
Understanding of infant crying was measured using a task adapted from the infant facial expression of emotion (IFEEL) pictures (child self-report). Empathetic concern and perspective taking were measured using subscales of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (child self-report). Child prosocial and aggressive behaviour were measured using peer nomination and behavioural assessment (peer report). Children’s aggressive and prosocial behaviours were rated on corresponding subscales of the Child Behaviour Scale (teacher report).
Findings
This study identified statistically significant positive impact on a number of child outcomes. This includes the following (only EIF outcomes based on scales with established reliability and validity are listed):
- Reduced proactive aggression (teacher report).
- Reduced relational aggression (teacher report).
The conclusions that can be drawn from this study are limited by methodological issues pertaining to the treatment and comparison groups not being generated by sufficiently robust methods, measurement not being blind to group assignment and the treatment condition not being modelled at the level of assignment.
Study 2
| Citation: | Connolly et al., 2018 |
| Design: | Cluster RCT |
| Country: | Northern Ireland |
| Sample: | 1674 pupils in year 5, between 8 and 9 years old, from 74 schools drawn from four of the five health and social care trusts areas in Northern Ireland |
| Timing: | Post-test; 12-month follow-up; 24-month follow-up; 36-month follow-up |
| Child outcomes: |
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| Other outcomes: | |
| Study rating: | 2+ |
Connolly, P., Miller, S., Kee, F., Sloan, S., Gildea, A., McIntosh, E., & Bland, J. M. (2018). A cluster randomised controlled trial and evaluation and cost-effectiveness analysis of the Roots of Empathy schools-based programme for improving social and emotional well-being outcomes among 8-to 9-year-olds in Northern Ireland. Public Health Research.
Available at
http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/129099/1/Connolly2018_1_.pdf
Study design and sample
The first study is a cluster RCT. Schools were randomly assigned to either the intervention (n = 37) or control (n = 37) groups. The intervention schools received the Roots of Empathy programme in their selected Year 5 class for one academic year (2011/12). The remaining schools in the waiting list control group continued with the regular curriculum and usual classroom activity.
This study was conducted in Northern Ireland, with a sample of 1278 (pre-test) children aged between 8 and 9 years, 695 in the intervention group and 583 in the control group. The sample was fairly even in terms of gender. Overall families were of low SES background.
Measures
Prosocial behaviour and total difficulties were measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (teacher report).
Prosocial behaviour and total difficulties were measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (parent report).
Prosocial behaviour and total difficulties were measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (child report).
Aggression and prosocial behaviour was measured using the Child Behaviour Scale (teacher report).
Understanding of infant feelings was measured using the Infant Facial Expression of Emotions Scale (child report).
Recognition of emotions was measured using the Recognition of Emotions Questionnaire (child report).
Emotional regulation was measured using the Child Anger Management Scale (child report).
Bullying was measured using the Revised Olweus Bully/ Victim questionnaire (child report).
Quality of Life was measured using Child Health Utility (child report).
Findings
This study identified statistically significant positive impact on a number of child outcomes.
This includes prosocial behaviour as measured by the teacher-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and the Child Behaviour Survey.
The conclusions that can be drawn from this study are limited by methodological issues pertaining to high attrition, a lack of clarity around whether study attrition undermined the equivalence of the study groups, as well as issues relating to measurement, including: i) some measures not being independent of the measures used as part of the treatment and ii) non-blind data collection for some measures, hence why a higher rating is not achieved.