Empathy in high- and low-risk students for child physical abuse

The present study was designed to analyse whether subjects with a high-risk for child physical abuse, as compared to those with a low-risk, show deficit on different dimensions of dispositional empathy (empathic concern, perspective taking and personal distress). In addition, the study was designed in order to analyse whether these deficits are different for males and females at risk for child physical abuse. Results showed that the participants’ risk status and participants’ gender were significant. Results indicated that subjects with a high-risk for child physical abuse showed significantly higher scores on the Personal distress dimension and significantly lower scores on the Perspective taking dimension. However, contrary to expectations, results did not show a significant interaction between participants’ risk status and gender.