scholarly journals Friend vs. Foe: Cognitive and Affective Empathy in Women With Different Hormonal States

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann-Christin Sophie Kimmig ◽  
Dirk Wildgruber ◽  
Sina-Maria Ute Wendel ◽  
Inger Sundström-Poromaa ◽  
Birgit Derntl
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Clinical Applications ◽  
Follicular Phase ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Affective Empathy ◽  
Hormonal Status ◽  
Emotional Closeness ◽  
Early Follicular Phase ◽  
Social Coherence ◽  
Emotional Scenes

Empathy is crucial for social functioning as well as social coherence. It can be influenced by modulatory factors such as familiarity and liking (i.e., emotional closeness). Furthermore, there are first hints that hormonal status may modulate affective but not cognitive empathy in women. The aim of this study was to investigate potential separate as well as combined modulatory effects of emotional closeness and hormonal status on female cognitive and affective empathy. Three hormonal status groups of women (n = 62) were studied: (1) naturally-cycling (NC) women in the early follicular phase (fNC), (2) NC women during periovulatory phase (oNC), and (3) oral contraceptive (OC) users. All women underwent a newly developed empathy task (i.e., Tübinger Empathy Test, TET) presenting textual descriptions of positive and negative emotional scenes relating to three different perspectives (i.e., self vs. friend vs. enemy/disliked person). Regardless of hormonal status, empathic responses were higher for the friend compared to the enemy perspective for both empathy components. However, cognitive empathy was less affected by varying emotional closeness toward the target person than affective empathy. Hormonal status modulated only affective empathy. OC users showed significantly less affective empathy toward the enemy compared to the fNC women. Overall, affective empathy seems more sensitive to modulatory effects of emotional closeness and hormonal status than cognitive empathy. Possible implications of this current investigation for future research on empathy and OC use, contraceptive education as well as for other clinical applications are discussed.

scholarly journals Preschoolers' Empathy Profiles and Their Social Adjustment

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Poline Simon ◽  
Nathalie Nader-Grosbois
Keyword(s):  
Social Adjustment ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Emotional Adjustment ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Affective Empathy ◽  
Mothers And Fathers

Preschoolers face new challenges in their social life: the development of social and emotional abilities in order to have positive relationships with peers and adults. Empathy, the ability to share and understand the emotions of others, contributes to this socio-emotional adjustment. This exploratory study examines mothers and fathers' perceptions of their child's empathy and individual factors, such as age, gender, and personality, which are related to cognitive and affective empathy in 63 typically developing preschoolers. Links between children's individual characteristics (empathy and personality) and their social adjustment on the one hand and risk of developing internalized vs. externalized behaviors on the other were also investigated. Parents completed four questionnaires about their child's empathy, personality, and social (mal)adjustment. The results showed that mothers and fathers perceived their children's cognitive and affective empathy, attention to others' feelings, and social actions (such as helping), in the same way, except for emotion contagion. Gender differences appeared specifically for some components of empathy: girls were said to pay more attention to others' emotions while boys had better cognitive empathy. Moreover, children's empathy as perceived by mothers or fathers was positively linked with their age, and with personality factors (extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, and openness to experience). Cognitive empathy and personality were found to be partly related to higher social skills and lower externalized and internalized behaviors. The results nuanced specific links between cognitive and affective empathy and social adjustment as well as behavior problems at preschool age. These results may have some implications for future research and prevention in childhood.

scholarly journals Reference values regarding measure of Basic Empathy Scale in forensic adolescents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreia Alexandra Cunha Azeredo ◽  
Patricia Figueiredo ◽  
Eduarda Ramião ◽  
Diana Moreira ◽  
Ricardo Barroso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Antisocial Behavior ◽  
Reference Values ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Altruistic Behavior ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Affective Empathy ◽  
Research With Children ◽  
Empathy Scale ◽  
Basic Empathy Scale

Empathy has revealed a fundamental role in fostering prosocial and altruistic behavior. Conversely, empathic dysfunction has been associated with antisocial behavior (ASB). The Basic Empathy Scale (BES) has been the most used instrument to measure empathy in studies with children and adolescents in forensic settings. Thus, we conducted a systematic review in order to establish reference values for BES in children and adolescents with conduct disorder/antisocial behavior (CD/ASB) and typical controls. Studies related to the topic were obtained from multiple databases (e.g., EBSCO, PubMed, Web of Science), through rigorous exclusion and inclusion criteria. Only papers with empirical and quantitative methodologies from scientific and academic publications were included. A total of 311 studies were identified through database searches and 15 articles were retained for this review. The findings reveal lower empathy scores in children and adolescents with CD/AB (pooled mean for the total scale = 52.32; mean for cognitive empathy = 30.86; pooled mean for affective empathy = 28.83) than controls (pooled mean for the total scale = 67.20; pooled mean for cognitive empathy = 34.04; pooled mean for affective empathy = 32.30). This review provides reference values that can be useful for the application of the BES and the interpretation of its results, both in clinical practice and in future research with children and adolescents.

scholarly journals Humor styles and empathy in junior-school children

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-166
Author(s):  
Caitlin Charlotte Halfpenny ◽  
Lucy Amelia James
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
School Children ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Affective Empathy ◽  
Complex Phenomenon ◽  
Humor Styles ◽  
Appropriate Use ◽  
Aggressive Humor

Humor is a complex phenomenon. For one individual a joke may be perceived as comical, yet for another, the same joke may be deemed completely inappropriate. The appropriate use of humor is perhaps dependent on how a humorist relates to, understands and can empathize with their audience. Thus, the present research aimed to determine whether empathy is related to junior-school children’s use of different humor styles. It has been proposed that four styles of humor exist, two of which are thought to be adaptive (affiliative and self-enhancing) and two of which are thought to be maladaptive (aggressive and self-defeating). However, research exploring the role of humor styles in younger children’s development has been limited. To investigate this the Humor Styles Questionnaire for young children (HSQ-Y) and the Thinking and Feeling Questionnaire were administered to 214 UK children aged 9-11 years old. Correlational analyses revealed that self-enhancing humor is associated with cognitive empathy, affective empathy and sympathy, affiliative humor is positively associated with cognitive empathy specifically and aggressive humor is negatively associated with affective empathy and sympathy. Possible explanations for these associations are explored, with a consideration of the direction for future research in this predominantly unexplored field of study.

scholarly journals Efficiency of modern correction methods of ovarian hyperandrogenism in puberty

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (6) ◽  
pp. 931-935
Author(s):  
E M Alieva ◽  
N E Akhundova
Keyword(s):  
Comparison Group ◽  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Follicular Phase ◽  
Sex Hormone Binding Globulin ◽  
Hormonal Status ◽  
Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Early Follicular Phase ◽  
Pathogenetic Therapy ◽  
Ovarian Hyperandrogenism

Aim. To evaluate the effectiveness of correction of the ovarian hyperandrogenism (OHA) in girls in puberty. Methods. 38 girls with OHA syndrome were examined. The average age of the girls was 14.39 ± 0.27 years. Ferriman-Gallwey hirsutism score was 19.7 ± 0.47, the hormonal score 18.14 ± 2.43, the indifferent score 2.34 ± 0.13. The comparison group included 20 girls matched by age (14.74 ± 0.15 years) with physiological course of puberty. The study included the evaluation of hirsutism severity by Ferriman-Gallway score, determination of the hormones of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal-ovarian system in early follicular phase on day 5-7 of menstrual cycle. Results. The causes of OHA syndrome in the pubertal period were found to be polycystic ovary syndrome in 68.42 % and tumor-like formations (follicular cysts) in 31.58 % of girls. Compared to healthy girls, the girls with OHA syndrome had statistically significantly higher values of luteinizing hormone (LH) - 9.19 ± 0.96 mME/ml, LH/FSH ratio - 1.8 ± 0.15, total testosteron (Ttotal) - 1.3 ± 0.11 ng/ml, estrone (E1) - 109.5 ± 4.88 ng/ml, androstenedione (An) - 4.01 ± 0.12 ng/ml as well as low values of estradiol (E2) - 49.1 ± 2.6 pg/ml and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) - 45.7 ± 2.14 nmol/l. The study demonstrated that correction of ovarian hyperandrogenism, promotes an increase in the level of E2, SHBG and decrease of the level of LH, LH/FSH ratio, Ttotal, An. Conclusion. Complex pathogenetic therapy of OHA syndrome in girls in puberty leads to significant improvement of hormonal status in this group of patients.

scholarly journals Influence of Menstrual Cycle Estradiol-β-17 Fluctuations on Energy Substrate Utilization-Oxidation during Aerobic, Endurance Exercise

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 7209
Author(s):  
Hannah N. Willett ◽  
Kristen J. Koltun ◽  
Anthony C. Hackney
Keyword(s):  
Menstrual Cycle ◽  
Athletic Performance ◽  
Luteal Phase ◽  
Substrate Utilization ◽  
Follicular Phase ◽  
Exercise Session ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Energy Substrate ◽  
Fat Utilization

This study examined the effect of estradiol-β-17 across the menstrual cycle (MC) during aerobic exercise on energy substrate utilization and oxidation. Thirty-two eumenorrheic (age = 22.4 ± 3.8 y (mean ± SD)), physically active women participated in two steady-state running sessions at 65% of VO2max, one during the early follicular and one during the luteal phase of the MC. Blood samples were collected at rest before each exercise session and analyzed for Estradiol-β-17 to confirm the MC phase. Carbohydrate (CHO) utilization and oxidation values were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the luteal (utilization: 51.6 ± 16.7%; oxidation: 1.22 ± 0.56 g/min; effect size (ES) = 0.45, 0.27) than follicular phase (utilization: 58.2 ± 15.1%; oxidation: 1.38 ± 0.60 g/min) exercise sessions. Conversely, fat utilization and oxidation values were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the luteal (utilization: 48.4 ± 16.7%; oxidation: 0.49 ± 0.19 g/min; ES = 0.45,0.28) than follicular phase (utilization: 41.8 ± 15.1%; oxidation: 0.41 ± 0.14 g/min). Estradiol-β-17 concentrations were significantly (p < 0.01) greater during the luteal (518.5 ± 285.4 pmol/L; ES = 0.75) than follicular phase (243.8 ± 143.2 pmol/L). Results suggest a greater use of fat and reduced amount of CHO usage during the luteal versus follicular phase, directly related to the change in resting estradiol-β-17. Future research should investigate the role these changes may play in female athletic performance.

Exploration of the Development of Children's Empathy

2021 ◽  
pp. 103-112
Author(s):  
Shih-Tseng Tina Huang ◽  
Vinh-Long Tran-Chi
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Graders ◽  
Sixth Graders ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Affective Empathy ◽  
Separate Analysis ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Fourth Grade Students ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
Grade Difference ◽  
Acceptable Reliability

Empathy is an important social skill. It is believed to play an essential role in socioemotional and moral development. The current study aimed to explore empathy development during childhood especially among students in the primary and middle schools located in Southern Vietnam. Bryant's Empathy Index for children and adolescents was administrated on 403 children, including 210 boys and 193 girls. The results showed that there was no significant difference between boys and girls in affective empathy. The results further indicated that there is a significant grade difference on affective empathy with the fourth-grade students being placed higher than those of the second and the sixth grades. A separate analysis was conducted for each of the dependent variables. It was found that the fourth graders were significantly higher than the second and the sixth graders on Understanding Feelings, Feelings of Sadness and Bryant's Empathy Index respectively. The result also showed that the Vietnamese version of Bryant's Empathy Index has acceptable reliability and can be used for future research.

A national survey of telemedicine use by US emergency departments

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 278-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kori S Zachrison ◽  
Krislyn M Boggs ◽  
Emily M Hayden ◽  
Janice A Espinola ◽  
Carlos A Camargo
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Emergency Departments ◽  
Multivariable Analysis ◽  
Clinical Applications ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Emergency Medical Care ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Annual Total ◽  
National Emergency ◽  
Total Visit

Objective Telemedicine has the potential to improve the delivery of emergency medical care: however, the extent of its adoption in United States (US) emergency departments is not known. Our objective was to characterise the prevalence of telemedicine use among all US emergency departments, describe clinical applications for which it is most commonly used, and identify emergency department characteristics associated with its use. Methods As part of the National Emergency Department Inventory-USA survey, we queried all 5375 US emergency departments open in 2016. Multivariable logistic regression analyses identified characteristics associated with emergency department receipt of telemedicine services. Results Overall, 4507 emergency departments (84%) responded to our survey, with 4031 responding to both telemedicine questions (75%). Although 1694 emergency departments (42%) reported no telemedicine in 2016, most did: 1923 (48%) emergency departments received telemedicine services, 149 (4%) emergency departments received telemedicine services and were in hospitals that provided telemedicine, and 265 emergency departments (7%) did not receive telemedicine but were in hospitals that provided telemedicine services. Among emergency departments receiving telemedicine, the most common applications were stroke/neurology (76%), psychiatry (38%), and paediatrics (15%). In multivariable analysis, telemedicine-receiving emergency departments had higher annual total visit volume for adults and lower annual total visit volume by children; were less likely to be academic or freestanding; and varied by region. In multivariable analysis, emergency departments in telemedicine-providing hospitals had higher annual total visit volume for adults and children, were more likely to be academic and were less likely to be freestanding. Conclusion In 2016, telemedicine was used in most US emergency departments (58%), especially for stroke/neurology and psychiatry. Future research is needed to understand the value of telemedicine for different clinical applications, and the barriers to its implementation.

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