A revised instrument for the assessment of empathy and Theory of Mind in adolescents: Introducing the EmpaToM-Y
Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-302877
- Empathy and Theory of Mind (ToM) are two core components of social understanding. The EmpaToM is a validated social video task that allows for independent manipulation and assessment of the two capacities. First applications revealed that empathy and ToM are dissociable constructs on a neuronal as well as on a behavioral level. As the EmpaToM has been designed for the assessment of social understanding in adults, it has a high degree of complexity and comprises topics that are inadequate for minors. For this reason, we designed a new version ofEmpathy and Theory of Mind (ToM) are two core components of social understanding. The EmpaToM is a validated social video task that allows for independent manipulation and assessment of the two capacities. First applications revealed that empathy and ToM are dissociable constructs on a neuronal as well as on a behavioral level. As the EmpaToM has been designed for the assessment of social understanding in adults, it has a high degree of complexity and comprises topics that are inadequate for minors. For this reason, we designed a new version of the EmpaToM that is especially suited to measure empathy and ToM in youths. In experiment 1, we successfully validated the EmpaToM-Y on the original EmpaToM in an adult sample (N = 61), revealing a similar pattern of results across tasks and strong correlations of all constructs. As intended, the performance measure for ToM and the control condition of the EmpaToM-Y showed reduced difficulty. In experiment 2, we tested the feasibility of the EmpaToM-Y in a group of teenagers (N = 36). Results indicate a reliable empathy induction and higher demands of ToM questions for adolescents. We provide a promising task for future research targeting inter-individual variability of socio-cognitive and socio-affective capacities as well as their precursors and outcomes in healthy minors and clinical populations.…
Author: | Christina Breil, Philipp Kanske, Roxana Pittig, Anne Böckler |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-302877 |
Document Type: | Journal article |
Faculties: | Fakultät für Humanwissenschaften (Philos., Psycho., Erziehungs- u. Gesell.-Wissensch.) / Institut für Psychologie |
Language: | English |
Parent Title (English): | Behavior Research Methods |
Year of Completion: | 2021 |
Volume: | 53 |
Pagenumber: | 2487–2501 |
Source: | Behavior Research Methods (2021) 53: 2487–2501. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-021-01589-3 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-021-01589-3 |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie |
Tag: | Theory of Mind; asolescence; development; empathy; mentalizing; social cognition; social understanding |
Release Date: | 2023/02/13 |
Licence (German): | CC BY: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung 4.0 International |