Convergence between physiological, facial and verbal self-report measures of affective empathy in children

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Abstract

The present study investigated the degree of convergence between three different measures of vicarious affective responsiveness (affective empathy) - verbal self-report, facial expression and change in heart rate - in typically developing children (N=29, aged 8-10 years), when presented with an emotionally evocative film. Although convergence between physiological and verbal measures was only at chance levels, convergence between facial and physiological measures, and between facial and verbal measures was statistically significant, but low (κ=0.30 and 0.22, respectively, p < 0.01). These findings have important implications for the assessment of empathy in children and indicate that generalization of results across methods should be undertaken with caution.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)237-254
Number of pages18
JournalInfant and Child Development
Volume16
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2007

Keywords

  • Affective empathy
  • Children
  • Facial expressions
  • Physiological indices
  • Self-reports

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