Previous evidence suggests that the amount of support one received has an impact on the cognitive empathy, however, it is not clear what mechanism underlies this relationship.  The present study examined the mediating and moderating mechanism between family support and cognitive empathy in 2,379 college students who completed self-report questionnaires assessing their level of family support, cognitive empathy, cognitive empathy and problematic mobile phone use.  The results indicated that family support was positively associated with cognitive empathy.  A mediation analysis indicated that core self-evaluation mediated the relationship between family support and cognitive empathy.  Furthermore, the effect of core self-evaluation on cognitive empathy was moderated by problematic mobile phone use.  The current research contributes to a better understanding of how and when the family support promotes cognitive empathy in college students.