Deficit of cognitive and affective empathy in adolescents with behavior disorders

Abstract

Empathy is viewed as a complex cognitive-affective reaction to perceptions of other people. Deficit of cognitive and affective empathy is described in some psychiatric disorders. The aim of this study was to examine the level of cognitive and affective empathy in adolescents with conduct disorder. The study included 87 adolescents with conduct disorders and 85 control group of adolescents aged 15–18 years. Empathy was assessed using a questionnaire Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). The results suggest that the level of cognitive and affective empathy is lowered in adolescents with conduct disorders compared to the healthy population of adolescents, in the prosocial-oriented dimension – Perspective Taking and Empathic Concern, while the differences in Personal Distress is very close to statistically significant values. Deficit of cognitive and affective empathy in adolescents with conduct disorder may be due to various causes: the negative sentiment, cognitive distortions, anxiety or poor emotional regulation. Adolescents with conduct disorder may exhibit lower empathy because of the presence overresponsiveness (not responsiveness) to negative stimuli. Abnormalities in the frontal brain regions involved in emotional and cognitive control may be associated with empathy deficits in adolescents with conduct disorder.