Empathy Deficits Research Articles

Agent familiarity and emotional context influence the everyday empathic responding of young children with autism

Whereas research addressing empathy in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) tends to employ pencil-and-paper and laboratory-based behavioural methods, the current study is novel in eliciting parent-report data regarding everyday empathy, sampling various emotional situations regularly encountered by children. Parents of typically-developing children and children diagnosed with ASD and DS completed the newly-developed Day-to-Day Child Empathy Questionnaire. Analysis of descriptions of their children's responses to the various empathy-inducing situations supports the notion of an empathy deficit in ASD, confirming previous laboratory-based findings. However, important moderation effects were also demonstrated, for both control and clinical groups. In particular, parents reported children in all groups to be more likely to respond empathically to a familiar agent. The nature of children's responses also varied according to the specific emotional context.

Empathy, social functioning and schizotypy

Whilst affective empathy is concerned with one's emotional response to the affective state of another, cognitive empathy refers to one's understanding of another's mental state, and deficits in both are believed to contribute to the social behavioral abnormalities associated with schizophrenia. The present study aimed to test whether individual differences in normally distributed schizotypal personality traits are related to cognitive and affective empathy, and whether any observed association between schizotypy and empathy mediates the relationship between schizotypy and (reduced) social functioning. Non-clinical volunteers ( N = 223) completed measures of schizotypal personality, cognitive and affective empathy, social functioning and negative affect. The results indicated that higher schizotypy was associated with reduced empathy, poorer social functioning and increased negative affect. Of the specific schizotypal dimensions (positive, negative and disorganized), only negative schizotypy was significantly associated with social functioning, and this relationship persisted even after controlling for negative affect. Further, affective empathy functioned as a partial mediator in this relationship. These data show that the relationship between negative schizotypy and social functioning is at least partially attributable to deficits in affective empathy.

Empathic abilities in people with schizophrenia

Although the existence of empathy deficits in schizophrenia is generally accepted, very few studies have directly investigated the issue. The nature of empathy deficits in healthy subjects and psychiatric patients is an understudied subject. The performances of the 30 outpatients with schizophrenia on a psychometric measure, the Empathy Quotient (EQ), were compared with those of 30 control subjects matched for age, duration of education and gender. The relatives or spouses of the patients also filled out the EQ. A neuropsychological battery, including emotion recognition, emotional reasoning and theory of mind tasks, was also administered. Schizophrenia patients had severe empathy dysfunction based on their relative EQ ratings. There was a serious discrepancy between the self and relative/spouse assessments of the empathic skills of schizophrenia patients. Consistent with the previous findings schizophrenia patients were impaired in nearly all cognitive tasks. The empathy deficits of schizophrenia patients were associated with their impairments in other social cognitive tasks. Studies focusing on dysfunctional brain networks underlying empathy deficits and studies using more experimental measures of empathy should be helpful to unravel the true nature of the empathic failure in patients with schizophrenia.

Parenting empathy: Associations with dimensions of parent and child psychopathology

Background. Parenting empathy, the understanding by parents, and the sharing in their child's perspective, represents an important element of competent parenting. The present study tested the hypotheses that maternal empathy might be lower where mothers or their children display symptoms of psychopathology.Method. Mothers (N = 268) of school‐aged children completed questionnaires on child‐directed empathy and egoistic personal distress and their own and their child's symptoms of psychopathology across a number of broadly defined domains.Results. Child conduct problems were associated with decreased child‐directed empathy and increased maternal egoistic distress. Maternal aggressive characteristics and maternal ADHD symptoms were each associated with increased egoistic personal distress.Conclusion. The findings indicate that symptoms of psychopathology in children and adults are associated with deficits in empathy and increased maternal egoistic personal distress. The implications of the findings for responsive parenting and child social behaviour are discussed.

Empathy in Mental Illness

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book ReviewFull AccessEmpathy in Mental IllnessLedro R. Justice M.D.Ledro R. Justice M.D.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 May 2008https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2008.59.5.581AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail During a time when efforts to understand mental illness tend to focus on neurobiology, psychopharmacology, and genetics, a text that focuses on empathy lends itself well to enhancing understanding of behavior and human relatedness, both normal and pathological, as well as verbal and behavioral treatment interventions. Tom Farrow and Peter Woodruff, both at the University of Sheffield, bring together a distinguished group of international contributors who discuss various definitions of empathy and ways of learning about it by studying the behavior of persons who appear to have deficits in empathy. Anatomical, genetic, and psychological approaches are noted in some of the studies in Empathy in Mental Illness . Such efforts are intended to enhance knowledge about empathy, which may have a positive impact on early intervention and prevention, treatment approaches, further research, and social communication in general. The text is organized into three sections. Part 1 pertains to several areas of pathological empathy in regard to deficits among "psychopathic individuals" and among persons with some other personality disorders, schizophrenia, depression, brain injuries, and autistic-spectrum disorders. Part 2, the largest section, looks at empathy from multiple viewpoints, including its early development in the neonatal period through childhood and its development from a social anthropological perspective. Other contributors note efforts to understand empathy from cognitive neuropsychological and genetic approaches and to define neuronal pathways that mediate empathy. Part 3 focuses on ways to measure empathy and contains relevant information for understanding interpersonal relationships. Understanding interpersonal relationships has special applicability for therapeutic work with small groups and couples.The text closes with a chapter advancing the use of literature and arts to develop empathy among medical students. The strength of the idea is weakened by the impractical nature of such methods in medical education in the United States because of rather significant existing time constraints in meeting current medical education requirements.Although there are some differences between British and American English in terms of diagnostic nomenclature, the text uses a very readable font, is well written, concise, and well documented. The stated goals of the editors are achieved. This text should be most useful for individuals who provide individual or group therapy and should be read by those responsible for writing treatment plans. It should prove to be a useful resource for clinical supervisors and medical educators.Dr. Justice lives in Van Buren, Arkansas. FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 59Issue 5 May, 2008Pages 581-581PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES May 2008 Volume 59 Number 5 Metrics PDF download History Published online 1 May 2008 Published in print 1 May 2008

Empathy Deficits in Siblings of Severely Scapegoated Children

ABSTRACT Empathy is a crucial concept in understanding not only child maltreatment, but its intergenerational transmission. One form of maltreatment, often involving both physical and emotional abuse, targets one child in the family, referred to as the “scapegoat.” Historically, the scapegoat has been regarded as the only abuse victim; clinical experience demonstrates otherwise. In many families, siblings identify with the parent, joining in blaming the victim for the caretaker's abuse of that child. They demonstrate empathy deficits, which may protect them from the effects of witnessing the process. This paper proposes a conceptual model that examines factors contributing to the development of empathy deficits. Ten elements are identified and a unifying model is proposed; the implications are examined.

Dispositional Empathy in Neglectful Mothers and Mothers at High Risk for Child Physical Abuse

This study investigates whether mothers who are neglectful and at high risk for child physical abuse present a deficit in empathy. Participants were neglectful mothers (n=37), mothers at high risk for child physical abuse (n=22), and nonmaltreating mothers (n=37). The Interpersonal Reactivity Index, a self-report measure assessing specific dimensions of empathy, was used to assess dispositional empathy. No differences between neglectful and non-neglectful mothers were found for perspective taking, empathic concern, and personal distress. High-risk mothers reported less perspective taking and more personal distress than nonmaltreating mothers. No difference between groups was found for empathic concern. The present study supported the hypothesis that parents at high risk for child physical abuse show a deficit in particular aspects of dispositional empathy: personal distress and perspective taking. However, no differences were found between neglectful and nonmaltreating mothers in any dimension of dispositional empathy.

Social Perception Deficits, Cognitive Distortions, and Empathy Deficits in Sex Offenders

This literature review examines the differences between sex offenders and nonoffenders with regard to social perception skills, cognitive distortions, and empathy skills in order to investigate sex offenders' cognition. The literature on cognitive distortions is discussed, with reference to the confusion surrounding its definition, and the debate between cognitive distortions as offense-supportive beliefs or justifications is examined. In terms of social perception, particular reference is made to sex offenders' misinterpretations of women's social cues and the source of this deficit. The authors discuss possibilities for this deficit, including offense-supportive beliefs that are driven by underlying implicit theories or schemata held by offenders. The concept of empathy and its relation to both social perception skills and cognitive distortions is discussed, and the integration of these factors is represented in a new model.

Symptoms of Frontotemporal Dementia Provide Insights into Orbitofrontal Cortex Function and Social Behavior

Recent investigations into the brain substrates of behavioral changes in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) demonstrate that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays a crucial role in normal social and emotional behavior. The initial symptoms of FTD reflect the early involvement of OFC as well as the disruption of an associated network involving the insula, striatum, and medial frontal lobes. As predicted by patients with other types of OFC lesions, FTD patients show impairments involving stimulus-reward reversal learning, response inhibition, and ability to judge the appropriateness of their behavior in the social context. While the natural reward system remains intact in these patients, that is, patients will seek out directly rewarding stimuli, such as food and sex, with progressive OFC dysfunction they lose the ability to process complex stimulus-reward contingencies. These abnormalities are apparent in their social interactions, which break down early in the disease. Also, deficits in emotion recognition and empathy have been directly linked to OFC atrophy in these patients. In contrast, some patients with early FTD show intact cognitive skills, including memory and executive functioning. Here, we review the behavioral and neuropsychological changes that accompany OFC atrophy in FTD and argue that phylogenetically new neurons found in this region, called von Economo neurons, are selectively vulnerable in FTD.

Types of empathy and adolescent sexual offenders

The purpose of this study was to examine general empathy, general victim empathy and own victim empathy in adolescent sexual offenders. Sixteen adolescent sexual offenders completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Personal Reaction Inventory, a “general sexual abuse victim” form of the Victim Empathy Distortions Scale (VEDS) and an “own victim” form of the VEDS. Sixteen non-offending, age-matched adolescents also completed the IRI. In summary, it was found that adolescent sexual offenders did not display general empathy deficits compared to age-matched non-offending controls. However, they displayed significant empathy deficits for their own sexual abuse victim compared to a general sexual abuse victim. Adolescent sexual offenders were found to have significantly lower scores on the perspective taking sub-scale of the IRI, compared to non-offenders. The findings of this study are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.

The relation of psychopathy to concurrent aggression and antisocial behavior in high‐risk adolescent girls and boys

The present study examined the concurrent relationship between psychopathy characteristics as measured by the PCL:YV and aggressive and antisocial behavior in a sample of 142 high-risk adolescent girls and boys. The unique relationship between each of three PCL:YV factors (Arrogant and Deceitful Interpersonal Style, Deficient Affective Experience, and Impulsive and Irresponsible Behavioral Style) and outcomes was evaluated to determine which aspects of psychopathy are most crucially linked to aggressive and antisocial behavior in adolescents. Dependent measures were expanded to include both relational and physical forms of aggression to better capture meaningful outcomes for girls and boys. Regression analyses showed that the relationships between psychopathic features and outcomes were equivalent for boys and girls, and that deficits in affect were most consistently associated with aggression. These findings are concordant with the well established finding in developmental research showing that deficits in empathy and affect regulation are associated with aggression.

Who Cares? Revisiting Empathy in Asperger Syndrome

A deficit in empathy has consistently been cited as a central characteristic of Asperger syndrome (AS), but previous research on adults has predominantly focused on cognitive empathy, effectively ignoring the role of affective empathy. We administered the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), a multi-dimensional measure of empathy, and the Strange Stories test to 21 adults with AS and 21 matched controls. Our data show that while the AS group scored lower on the measures of cognitive empathy and theory of mind, they were no different from controls on one affective empathy scale of the IRI (empathic concern), and scored higher than controls on the other (personal distress). Therefore, we propose that the issue of empathy in AS should be revisited.

Can Asperger Syndrome Be Diagnosed at 26 Months Old? A Genetic High-Risk Single-Case Study

Asperger syndrome, a heritable condition entailing empathy deficits together with unusually narrow interests in individuals of normal or even above-average intelligence, was recognized only recently. Here we report the first-ever prospective study of a child born to two adults with a formal diagnosis of Asperger syndrome. The child's parents are both scientists (a mathematician and a chemist). The aim of study 1 was to test if the child also developed Asperger syndrome, given the heritability of the condition, and if Asperger syndrome can be detected at 26 months. At 18 months, the child was given the Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, and at 26 months, she was assessed diagnostically for autism spectrum conditions using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised and the Autism Diagnostic Observational Scale. The child failed the Checklist for Autism in Toddlers at 18 months and met the criteria for Asperger syndrome at 26 months. This single case is consistent with the hypersystemizing, assortative mating theory of autism. This theory requires further testing with large samples. This study also demonstrates that Asperger syndrome can be diagnosed by age 26 months. The aim of study 2 was to test if dyadic eye contact in infancy is intact in a child later diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. The same child's eye contact was measured at three time points (3, 6, and 9 months) over her first year of life and compared with that of age-matched controls. Although the child had low rates of eye contact at 6 months, it was within the normal range at all three points in the first year of life. We conclude that low levels of eye contact are not predictive of later development of Asperger syndrome.

Aggression inhibition in high- and low-risk subjects for child physical abuse: effects of a child's hostile intent and the presence of mitigating information

Exposure of an aggressor to the suffering of his/her victim generally inhibits subsequent attacks [e.g. Baron, 1971a] presumably because of an empathic process. Physically abusive parents and individuals at high risk for child physical abuse are thought to present a deficit in empathy [e.g. Milner, Halsey and Fultz, 1995]. The present research was designed to investigate whether highrisk, compared to low-risk, subjects for child physical abuse select more aggressive responses and aggress with more intensity toward a supposed child whose behavior is adequate, inadequate or ambiguous in the presence of the child's pain cues. A second objective was to explore whether high-risk, compared to low-risk, subjects for child physical abuse fail to adequately integrate mitigating information and, therefore, do not inhibit their aggressive behavior following the receipt of mitigating information before or during an inadequate child behavior. Participants were engaged in an experimental task that involved attempting to teach a child how to proceed accurately through a computer-displayed maze and were given the opportunity to send positive (pleasant sounds and happy faces) and negative feedback (mad faces and unpleasant sounds) to the child. Two hundred and fifty undergraduate students participated in the experiment. A 2 x 5 factorial design based on two levels of the participant's risk status (high, low) and five conditions based on the child's behavior and the introduction of mitigating information was employed. As expected, low-risk, compared to high-risk, subjects showed less aggression when mitigating information was provided. Language: en

Empathy in boys with disruptive behavior disorders

The present study examined empathy in 8- to 12-year-old clinically referred boys with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) (n=25) and age-matched normal controls (n=24). Situational empathy was assessed by children's emotional and cognitive responses to six empathy-inducing vignettes (displaying sadness, anger or happiness). Dispositional affective empathy was measured by a self-report questionnaire for children. In line with predictions, results revealed deficits in dispositional and situational empathy among DBD boys, and inverse relationships between both empathy measures and parent-reports of aggressive/disruptive behavior among all children. The study also explored whether DBD boys are less responsive to just any emotion, or to specific emotions. Compared to normal controls, DBD boys responded less empathically to sadness and anger, but equally empathically to happiness. In addition, while DBD boys responded less empathically than the normal controls to each and every sadness vignette, they did not show equally low levels of empathic responses to all sadness vignettes. These findings suggest that situational factors may be involved in DBD boys' reduced responsiveness to another person's sadness.

Empathy and attitudes to animals

There is increasing support for the idea that human attitudes to animals may be indicative of human–human empathy. This has implications for the treatment of empathy deficits and related anti-social behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to explicitly investigate links between human–human empathy and attitudes to animals. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Animal Attitude Scale (AAS) were administered to 194 undergraduate Sociology and Psychology students. A significant correlation between empathy levels, gender, companion animal ownership and attitudes to animals was found. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Clinical neuropsychiatric symptoms in perpetrators of severe crimes against persons

The objective of the study was to explore the possibility of common signs and symptoms of childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorders and personality disorders, especially psychopathy, in a cohort of violent offenders. A structured neuropsychiatric status comprising features recorded in childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorders and adult personality disorders was assessed in 89 perpetrators of severe crimes against other persons, analysed for factor structure, and compared to clinical diagnostics of neuropsychiatric disorders and independent assessments of psychopathy rated by the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R). One or several childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorders [autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), tics and learning disability] affected the majority of adult offenders. A factor analysis yielded four higher-order problem constellations: Executive Dysfunction, Compulsivity, Social Interaction Problems and Superficiality. All four constellations were positively correlated with life histories of aggression, stressing the clinical importance of these problems in adult forensic psychiatry. Compulsivity and Social Interaction Problems were associated with autistic traits and tics, Executive Dysfunction with AD/HD, conduct disorder and psychopathic as well as autistic traits. Superficiality was a distinct aspect of AD/HD and psychopathic traits, especially the PCL-R factor reflecting interpersonal callousness. Neuropsychiatric disorders and personality disorders such as psychopathy share common symptoms. The various facets of psychopathy are associated with executive dysfunction and empathy deficits with superficial understanding of self, others and the rules of communication.

Empathy in individuals at risk for child physical abuse: The effects of victim's pain cues on aggression

Exposure of an aggressor to the suffering of his/her victim generally inhibits subsequent attacks [e.g., Baron, Aggression as a function of magnitude of victim's pain cues, level of prior anger arousal, and aggressor-victim similarity, J Pers Soc Psychol 18:48-54, 1971a], presumably because of an empathic process. Physically abusive parents and individuals at high-risk for child physical abuse are thought to present a deficit of empathy [e.g., Milner et al., Empathic responsiveness and affective reactivity to infant stimuli in high- and low-risk for physical child abuse mothers, Child Abuse Negl 19:767-780, 1995]. This study examined whether individuals at high-risk for child physical abuse show empathy and inhibit aggression when exposed to cues thought to be associated with victim suffering. Eighty undergraduate female students participated. A 2 x 2 factorial design based upon 2 levels of the participant's risk status (high, low) and 2 levels of victim's pain cues (present, absent) was employed. Findings suggest that high-risk participants in the pain cues condition selected higher intensities of shocks to aggress than high-risk participants in the absent cues condition. However, risk status was not associated with reports of personal distress or empathic concern. Aggress. Behav. 31:336-349, 2005.

Measuring empathy: reliability and validity of the Empathy Quotient

Empathy plays a key role in social understanding, but its empirical measurement has proved difficult. The Empathy Quotient (EQ) is a self-report scale designed to do just that. This series of four studies examined the reliability and validity of the EQ and determined its factor structure. In Study 1, 53 people completed the EQ, Social Desirability Scale (SDS) and a non-verbal mental state inference test, the Eyes Task. In Study 2, a principal components analysis (PCA) was conducted on data from 110 healthy individuals and 62 people reporting depersonalisation (DPD). Approximately 1 year later, Study 3, involved the re-administration of the EQ (n = 24) along with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; n = 28). In the last study, the EQ scores of those with DPD, a condition that includes a subjective lack of empathy, were examined in depth. An association was found between the Eyes task and EQ, and only three EQ items correlated with the SDS. PCA revealed three factors: (1) 'cognitive empathy'; (2) 'emotional reactivity', and (3) 'social skills'. Test-retest reliability was good and moderate associations were found between the EQ and IRI subscales, suggesting concurrent validity. People with DPD did not show a global empathy deficit, but reported less social competence. The EQ is a valid, reliable scale and the different subscales may have clinical applications.

The Functional Architecture of Human Empathy

Empathy accounts for the naturally occurring subjective experience of similarity between the feelings expressed by self and others without loosing sight of whose feelings belong to whom. Empathy involves not only the affective experience of the other person's actual or inferred emotional state but also some minimal recognition and understanding of another's emotional state. In light of multiple levels of analysis ranging from developmental psychology, social psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and clinical neuropsychology, this article proposes a model of empathy that involves parallel and distributed processing in a number of dissociable computational mechanisms. Shared neural representations, self-awareness, mental flexibility, and emotion regulation constitute the basic macrocomponents of empathy, which are underpinned by specific neural systems. This functional model may be used to make specific predictions about the various empathy deficits that can be encountered in different forms of social and neurological disorders.