Exploring the links between alexithymia, empathy and schizotypy in college students using network analysis

Yang, Han‐Xue; Shi, Hailong; Ni, Ke; Wang, Yi; Cheung, Eric F.C.; Chan, Raymond C. K.

doi:10.1080/13546805.2020.1749039

Cited by 15 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Our findings are consistent with a previous study on behaviorally assessed empathy of UHR individuals who later developed overt psychosis; in that study, it was shown that decreased emotional empathy was related to negative symptoms [ 18 ]. In addition, this finding is consistent with previous studies that showed a negative correlation between emotional empathy and negative schizotypy in schizophrenic patients [ 55 ] and non-clinical participants [ 27 , 56 , 57 ]. Since social anhedonia, which is a negative schizotypy, is defined as a decrease in pleasure derived from interpersonal sources, decreased empathic concern in UHR individuals may reflect indifference and lower emotional reactivity to other people’s experiences [ 39 , 58 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…18 In addition, this finding is consistent with previous studies that showed a negative correlation between emotional empathy and negative schizotypy in schizophrenic patients 55 and non-clinical participants. 27,56,57 Since social anhedonia, which is a negative schizotypy, is defined as a decrease in pleasure derived from interpersonal sources, decreased empathic concern in UHR individuals may reflect indifference and lower emotional reactivity to other people's experiences. 39,58 ToM skills were found to be related to both positive schizotypy and executive function in UHR individuals.…”

Section: Relationship Of Empathic Tendencies and Tom Skills With Schizotypy And Executive Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Empathy and Theory of Mind in Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis: Relations With Schizotypy and Executive Function

Kong

Koo

Seo

et al. 2021

Psychiatry Investig

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Objective While recent studies have found deficits in theory of mind (ToM) skills in individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis, empathic tendencies in these subjects remain unclear. The presence of high schizotypy and compromised executive functions, which are found in UHR individuals, would affect ToM skills and empathic tendencies. We investigated the ToM skills and empathic tendencies of UHR individuals and examined their relationship with schizotypy and executive function.Methods This study included 28 UHR individuals and 28 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. All participants completed a self-reported empathic scale (Interpersonal Reactivity Index) and the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales. Additionally, the ToM Picture Stories Task and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test were conducted.Results UHR individuals showed a trend toward lower self-reported empathic tendencies; however, there were no differences in ToM skills between the two groups. Of the four subscales of the IRI, only empathic concern showed a significant difference between the two groups. Empathic concern was inversely associated with negative schizotypy.Conclusion Our findings suggest that UHR individuals show relatively preserved cognitive empathy but compromised emotional empathy. Furthermore, in UHR individuals, the empathic concern subscale of the IRI was associated with negative schizotypy, while ToM skills were related to positive schizotypy and executive function.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Relationship Of Empathic Tendencies and Tom Skills With Schizotypy And Executive Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empathy and Theory of Mind in Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis: Relations With Schizotypy and Executive Function

Kong

Koo

Seo

et al. 2021

Psychiatry Investig

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“…Previous studies have examined the associations between schizotypy and empathy in nonclinical samples (Bedwell et al, 2014; Kallai et al, 2019; Thakkar & Park, 2010; Y. Wang et al, 2013; Yang et al, 2020) and have consistently found that a negative dimension of schizotypy was negatively correlated with both cognitive and affective empathy. Our results replicate this finding and show that higher levels of negative schizotypy, social and physical anhedonia were correlated with lower scores on self‐reported cognitive and affective empathy measured by the IRI.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the extant literature has shown inconsistent findings for self‐reported cognitive empathy. Some studies have suggested that scores on positive schizotypy correlated with better self‐reported cognitive empathy (Henry et al, 2008; Y. Wang et al, 2013) whereas other studies have not reported any significant correlation between positive schizotypy and cognitive empathy (Kallai et al, 2019; Thakkar & Park, 2010; Yang et al, 2020). These mixed results may suggest that some confounding factors may affect the relationships between schizotypy and empathy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship between schizotypy and empathy

2022

Self Cite

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Schizotypy is a set of personality traits existing in the general population that represents vulnerability for developing psychosis. Previous studies have suggested that negative schizotypy correlates with empathy, but mixed results have been shown for positive schizotypy. The present study aimed to explore the potential mediating role of emotion regulation upon schizotypy and empathy. The valid sample consisted of 595 college students who completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Chapman Psychosis Proneness Scales. Pearson correlations between schizotypy, emotion regulation, and empathy were performed to build potential mediating models. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap analyses were used to examine the mediation effects of emotion regulation. Our results showed that negative schizotypy was correlated with both cognitive and affective empathy whereas positive schizotypy only correlated with the Fantasy and Personal Distress subscales after multiple comparisons corrections. The Cognitive Reappraisal subscale of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire was positively correlated with empathy whereas the Expressive Suppression subscale was negatively associated with affective empathy. More importantly, there was a significant mediating effect of cognitive reappraisal on the relationship between negative schizotypy and cognitive empathy. Our findings suggest that a higher level of negative schizotypy is associated with poorer cognitive and affective empathy, and cognitive reappraisal may mediate the effect of negative schizotypy on cognitive empathy. These findings highlight the optimal usage of cognitive reappraisal in social interactions, and may help to improve empathy, especially for individuals with a high level of negative schizotypy.

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“…Another explanation could be that this relationship is mediated through increased alexithymia, which is increased in clinical samples ( 70 ) and correlates with all three schizotypy trait dimensions ( 71 , 72 ). This initially contradicts the current explanation being specific to negative schizotypy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Schizotypy Predicts Emotion Recognition Independently of Negative Affect

Dawes¹,

Danielmeier²,

Haselgrove³

et al. 2021

Front. Psychiatry

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Introduction: Deficits in Emotion Recognition (ER) contribute significantly to poorer functional outcomes in people with schizophrenia. However, rather than reflecting a core symptom of schizophrenia, reduced ER has been suggested to reflect increased mood disorder co-morbidity and confounds of patient status such as medication. We investigated whether ER deficits are replicable in psychometrically defined schizotypy, and whether this putative association is mediated by increased negative affect.Methods: Two hundred and nine participants between the ages of 18 and 69 (66% female) were recruited from online platforms: 80% held an undergraduate qualification or higher, 44% were current students, and 46% were in current employment. Participants were assessed on psychometric schizotypy using the O-LIFE which maps onto the same symptoms structure (positive, negative, and disorganised) as schizophrenia. Negative affect was assessed using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Emotion Recognition of both positive and negative emotions was assessed using the short version of the Geneva Emotion Recognition Task (GERT-S).Results: Negative schizotypy traits predicted poorer ER accuracy to negative emotions (β = −0.192, p = 0.002) as predicted. Unexpectedly, disorganised schizotypy traits predicted improved performance to negative emotions (β = 0.256, p = 0.007) (primarily disgust). Negative affect was found to be unrelated to ER performance of either valence (both p > 0.591). No measure predicted ER accuracy of positive emotions. Positive schizotypy traits were not found to predict either positive or negative ER accuracy. However, positive schizotypy predicted increased confidence in decisions and disorganised schizotypy predicted reduced confidence in decisions.Discussion: The replication of ER deficits in non-clinical negative schizotypy suggests that the association between negative symptoms and ER deficits in clinical samples may be independent of confounds of patient status (i.e., anti-psychotic medication). The finding that this association was independent of negative affect further suggests ER deficits in patients may also be independent of mood disorder co-morbidity. This association was not demonstrated for the positive symptom dimension of the O-LIFE, which may be due to low levels of this trait in the current sample.

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Exploring the links between alexithymia, empathy and schizotypy in college students using network analysis

Cited by 15 publications

References 41 publications

Empathy and Theory of Mind in Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis: Relations With Schizotypy and Executive Function

Empathy and Theory of Mind in Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis: Relations With Schizotypy and Executive Function

Mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship between schizotypy and empathy

High Schizotypy Predicts Emotion Recognition Independently of Negative Affect

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