Affective Empathy Deficits in Aggressive Children and Adolescents: a Critical Review

Aggressive children and adolescents are often hypothesized to have lower levels of empathy than comparable nonaggressive peers. A review of 17 studies examining the relationship between affective empathy and aggressive or delinquent behavior was conducted to determine the validity of this hypothesis. The studies offered conflicting findings, even when the measures of empathy were identical across studies. Based on this review, there was not a consistent relationship between empathy and aggression in children, but a negative relationship was typically found in adolescents. Self-report measures of empathy used with adolescent participants showed the most robust relationship with aggression. Clinical implications, limitations of present research, and recommendations for future research are discussed.