BRYANT, BRENDA K. An Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1982, 53, 413-425. This study presents the development and validation of an index of empathy for use with children and adolescents. 56 first graders, 115 fourth graders, and 87 seventh graders were studied. Item means, item total correlations, test-retest reliabilities, correlations testing the relationship of empathy to aggressiveness and acceptance of individual differences, correlations testing the relationship of this adapted index of empathy to other existing measures of empathy as well as to social desirability response set and reading achievement formed the basis of internal, discriminant, convergent, and general construct validation. The measure demonstrated satisfactory reliability and preliminary construct validity. The study of a subset of items controlling for same-sex versus cross-sex stimulus figures provided the basis for investigating developmental aspects of empathic arousal toward peers of different sexes. Overall, the availability of comparable forms of a measure of empathy for use with children, adolescents, and adults will be useful for exploring the developmental antecedents and conditions surrounding the expression of emotional empathy. The purpose of the present study was to test the reliability and validity of a new index of empathy designed to accommodate a wide age range of children and adolescents, while yielding a measure comparable to one already available for use with adults, the Mehrabian and Epstein (1972) scale. If reliable and valid, such a measure would be particularly useful in increasing our understanding of empathy development and its relation to social development. Discrepancies in existing research findings among children versus adults regarding the relationship between empathy and social behavior may be due to the differences in methodology used to assess empathy (Eisenberg-Berg & Lennon 1980). The paper-and-pencil Mehrabian and Epstein adult measure of emotional empathy was selected for downward extension for three reasons, one conceptual and two methodological. Conceptually, Mehrabian and Epstein define empathy as a vicarious emotional response to the perceived emotional experiences of others, a definition that is congruent with the conceptual framework pursued by Aderman and Berkowitz (1970) and Stotland (1969). This framework contrasts with the approach of Borke (1971), Dymond (1949), Rogers and Truax (1967), and Chandler (Note 1), in which empathy is defined in terms of accuracy of cognitive social insight or social/ affective role taking, and is both congruent with and distinct from the Feshbach and Roe (1968) approach. Feshbach and Roe's measure of empathy is an attempt to combine both approaches simultaneously. While there is value in the combinatory approach, the primary interest of this investigator was to develop an understanding of the affective arousal component-the experience of perceived sharing of feelings at least at the gross affect (pleasant-unpleasant) level. In this...
