Purpose
– This research assesses the predictive capacity of key factors in the development of family competences: parent-children relationship, family involvement, family resilience and positive parenting. It also aims to establish which are the most discriminating factors between the groups showing the most and the least prosocial behaviours.
Design/methodology/approach
– The study involves a longitudinal study of one child from 181 families; 155 families in the experimental group and 26 in the control group. Both boys and girls are included and their ages range from 8 to 14 years. The instruments employed are all validated for use with a Spanish population and include Karol Kumpfer’s questionnaires on family competence and the BASC questionnaire.
Findings
– All of the factors analysed, with the exception of family involvement, proved to be predictive for prosocial behaviour, and the most discriminating among these were: parent-children relationship, family resilience and positive parenting.
Originality/value
– One key issue in family prevention programmes is the development of prosocial behaviour. In this sense, the research developed here aims at highlighting protective factors as key to developing a prosocial behaviour.