Empathy Development: Typical and Atypical Tracks, From Infancy to Early Childhood.

This review shows that babies develop empathy much earlier than previously thought - signs can be seen in the first year of life. In autism, early differences in empathy development may appear as challenges with social attention and sharing emotions with others. These early signs could help identify children who need support sooner, which may lead to better outcomes.

This comprehensive review examines empathy development from infancy to early childhood, challenging traditional models by presenting evidence that empathic markers appear in the first year of life rather than toddlerhood. The review explores how neurobiological maturation, emotion regulation, and caregiver-infant interactions support empathy development. It highlights how autism spectrum disorder (ASD) manifests as early deficits in social attention, emotional sharing, and prosocial behavior, with empathy impairments serving as potential prodromal markers. The authors emphasize empathy's dual role as both a developmental milestone and diagnostic tool for identifying early socio-emotional dysfunction, advocating for early detection and intervention to improve long-term outcomes.

Early empathy markers could enhance ASD screening and inform intervention timing. The findings suggest that targeting empathy development through caregiver-infant interactions and emotion regulation support may improve socio-emotional outcomes across diverse developmental profiles, particularly for children with ASD.

This is a narrative review without specified systematic methodology or sample size reporting. The evidence synthesis approach and search strategy are not described, limiting assessment of comprehensiveness and potential bias in study selection.

Empathy, a cornerstone of human social functioning, begins its developmental journey early in life, shaped by a complex interplay of neurobiological, emotional, cognitive, and social influences. This article offers a comprehensive review of the typical and atypical developmental pathways of empathy from infancy to early childhood. Challenging traditional models that positioned empathy's emergence in toddlerhood, recent evidence suggests that early markers of empathic concern and cognitive understanding of others' distress are observable as early as the first year of life. The review highlights how neurobiological maturation, emotion regulation, and early caregiver-infant interactions converge to support the development of empathy.

It also examines how deviations from typical trajectories-such as in autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-manifest as early deficits in social attention, emotional sharing, and prosocial behavior. Identifying prodromal markers of ASD through impairments in empathy manifested in young infants' responses to distress, the article underscores the critical role of early detection and intervention in mitigating long-term socio-emotional challenges. By bridging developmental science and clinical research, this review highlights the significance of empathy as both a developmental milestone and a diagnostic lens for understanding early socio-emotional dysfunctions. Fostering empathy development is proposed as a crucial factor in promoting adaptive social outcomes across diverse developmental profiles.