The Performance of Empathic Expression Rating Scale: A Role-Play Assessment Of Empathy For Individuals With Schizophrenia

The Performance of Empathic Expression Rating Scale: A Role-Play Assessment Of Empathy For Individuals With Schizophrenia Public Deposited

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Creator

Gagen, Emily
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

Abstract

Social cognitive deficits are well documented in people with schizophrenia; this includes deficits in empathy, or the ability to both understand and share the emotions of another person. However, current measures of empathy are generally inappropriate for this population. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of a role-play measure of empathy called the Performance of Empathic Expression Rating Scale (PEERS) in a sample of 60 individuals with schizophrenia and 51 healthy controls. The ratings assess a person’s ability to interact empathically with a confederate in an emotional situation. The PEERS demonstrated acceptable internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and discriminant validity. Patients performed significantly worse than controls, but most of these differences were explained by social skill ability. The PEERS was also related to some aspects of a self-report measure of empathy and a theory of mind task. Implications for the future use of this assessment will be discussed.

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