Measures of empathy in children and adolescents: A systematic review of questionnaires
Gianluca Sesso, Giulio Emilio Brancati, Pamela Fantozzi, Emanuela Inguaggiato, Annarita Milone, Gabriele Masi
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Empathy has long been considered a multidimensional construct, encompassing cognitive, affective and behavioral domains. Deficits in empathic competences in early childhood contribute to psychopathology, and have been variably implicated in several clinical conditions, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and conduct disorders. AIM: To identify and describe empirically validated questionnaires assessing empathy in children and adolescents and to provide a summary of related theoretical perspectives on empathy definitional issues. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was conducted. Three bibliographic databases were searched. A total of 47 studies were selected for final analysis and 16 distinct measures were identified and described. RESULTS: , ASD) could be specifically addressed through more recent instruments. CONCLUSION: The combination of different assessment methods is recommended in order to foresee further improvements in this field and try to overcome the problem of limited convergence with more objective measures.