Psychopathic Traits and Empathic Functioning in Detained Juveniles: Withdrawal Response to Empathic Sadness

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of correlations, means, and standard deviations.

	YPI-s Total Score	Affective dimension	Behavioral dimension	Interpersonal dimension	IECA Total score	State empathy Mo	State empathy Champ	Δ HR Mohammed	Δ HR Champ	Δ PEP Mohammed	Δ PEP Champ	Δ RSA Mohammed	Δ RSA Champ
YPI-s Total Score
Affective dimension	0.748**
Behavioral dimension	0.680**	0.279**
Interpersonal dimension	0.771**	0.382**	0.260**
IECA Total score	−.246**	−.335**	−.039	−.168**
State empathy Mo	−0.098*	−0.123*	−0.103*	0.001	0.307**
State empathy Champ	−0.110*	−0.170**	−0.064	−0.015	0.408**	0.582**
ΔHR Mohammed	0.026	0.035	0.012	0.011	0.001	−0.099*	−0.018
ΔHR Champ	0.060	0.041	0.031	0.058	0.036	−0.053	−0.002	0.167**
ΔPEP Mohammed	0.006	0.000	−0.028	0.036	−0.028	0.062	−0.018	0.011	−0.023
ΔPEP Champ	−0.046	−0.012	−0.027	−0.059	−0.049	−0.012	−0.007	0.045	−0.020	−0.132**
ΔRSA Mohammed	−0.038	−0.039	−0.038	−0.010	−0.056	−0.004	0.021	−0.177**	−0.081	−0.167**	−0.058
ΔRSA Champ	−0.023	−0.014	−0.049	0.008	−0.055	−0.008	−0.018	−0.126*	0.032	0.055	−0.155**	0.072
Mean	33.37	10.47	12.20	10.70	16.11	1.75	2.25	−2.60	−3.85	0.54	0.65	−2.26	−10.65
Standard Deviation	7.78	3.42	3.34	3.82	4.24	1.08	1.27	3.44	3.92	4.42	4.42	30.54	33.37

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level.

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level.

Figure 1. Self-reported psychopathic traits (YPI-s scores) for the empathic and non-empathic groups.

Table 2. Self-reported psychopathic traits (YPI-s scores) and autonomic nervous system (ANS) change scores for empathic and non-empathic groups for the film clips Mohammed and Champ.

	Mohammed					Champ
	Empathic		Non-empathic			Empathic		Non-empathic
	N = 169		N = 241			N = 249		N = 159
	M	SD	M	SD	t	M	SD	M	SD	t
Behavioral measures
YPI-s
Total Score	32.40	7.81	34.02	7.71	2.08*	32.62	7.26	34.43	8.34	2.32*
Affective	9.86	3.20	10.89	3.52	3.03**	9.94	3.08	11.25	3.74	3.83***
Behavioral	11.75	3.12	12.52	3.46	2.32*	12.06	3.14	12.42	3.64	1.05
Interpersonal	10.80	3.93	10.61	3.57	−0.49	10.62	3.72	10.77	3.97	0.38
ANS measures
ΔHR	−3.03	3.41	−2.29	3.44	2.15*	−3.96	3.70	−3.69	4.24	0.68
ΔRSA	−0.46	28.75	−3.52	31.72	−0.99	−11.95	31.35	−8.66	36.28	0.97
ΔPEP	0.58	4.48	0.51	4.38	−0.17	−0.63	4.57	0.69	4.20	0.13

* = significant at <0.05.

** = significant at <0.01.

*** = significant at <0.001.

Figure 2. Differences in change scores for the different ANS measures (heart rate (HR), parasympathetic measure Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA), and sympathetic measure Pre-Ejection Period (PEP) for the empathic and non-empathic groups.

Table A.1. Descriptive statistics for autonomic nervous system (ANS) measures for the different conditions of the emotion evocation task.

	N	Min	Max	M (SD)	Md
HR
1minBL _1	413	48.64	112.81	72.77 (10.25)
1minBL_2	412	50.46	109.45	72.75 (9.94)
Champ	410	48.11	109.19	68.82 (9.81)
Mohammed	412	48.27	108.84	70.05 (9.67)
RSA
1minBL _1	408	9.75	356.64	85.178 (44.46)	78.52
1minBL_2	409	6.68	258.00	76.53 (42.46)	68.79
Champ	405	9.38	298.44	74.84 (42.09)	65.30
Mohammed	406	6.18	261.50	74.59 (42.58)	65.19
PEP
1minBL _1	408	47	151	100.78 (20.41)
1minBL_2	409	52	147	100.62 (19.76)
Champ	407	52	152	101.43 (20.08)
Mohammed	407	48	154	101.32 (20.03)

Note. HR = heart rate; RSA = respiratory sinus arrhythmia; PEP = pre-ejection period.