The Basic Empathy Scale: Factor structure and validity in a sample of inpatient adolescents

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• The Basic Empathy Scale (BES) is widely used for adolescent empathy assessment.
• Previous research has not validated the BES in American or severe clinical adolescent populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the factor structure and construct validity of the BES in a severe clinical adolescent sample.
• To determine appropriate scoring and interpretation guidelines for the BES in this population.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a factor analysis on data from 652 inpatient adolescents.
• Utilized a bifactor model to assess general and specific empathy factors.
• Examined construct validity through associations with prosocial behavior and psychopathy traits.

Main Results:

• A bifactor model with a general empathy factor and specific affective/cognitive factors showed the best data fit.
• Specific factors were identified as measurement error and emotion recognition.
• BES total scores demonstrated positive associations with prosocial behavior and negative associations with psychopathy.
• Girls scored significantly higher on the BES than boys.

Conclusions:

• The BES total score is a valid and reliable measure of empathy in adolescents with severe psychopathology.
• The BES is suitable for use in clinical settings with adolescents.
• Findings support the use of BES total scores for capturing overall empathy in this population.