Validation of the Tunisian Empathy Scale for Children (TESC) in General Population and Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
BackgroundSeveral empathy assessment tests have been proposed worldwide but none of them took into account cultural variations that seem to affect empathic manifestations. The aim of this study was to create and validate an empathy assessment questionnaire for school-aged Tunisian children entitled...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.903966/full |
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| author | Hela Ben Youssef Hela Ben Youssef Soumeyya Halayem Soumeyya Halayem Malek Ghazzai Selima Jelili Selima Jelili Hager Ben Mansour Hager Ben Mansour Olfa Rajhi Amal Taamallah Amal Taamallah Selima Ennaifer Selima Ennaifer Malek Hajri Malek Hajri Zeineb Salma Abbes Zeineb Salma Abbes Radhouane Fakhfakh Ahmed Nabli Asma Bouden Asma Bouden |
| author_facet | Hela Ben Youssef Hela Ben Youssef Soumeyya Halayem Soumeyya Halayem Malek Ghazzai Selima Jelili Selima Jelili Hager Ben Mansour Hager Ben Mansour Olfa Rajhi Amal Taamallah Amal Taamallah Selima Ennaifer Selima Ennaifer Malek Hajri Malek Hajri Zeineb Salma Abbes Zeineb Salma Abbes Radhouane Fakhfakh Ahmed Nabli Asma Bouden Asma Bouden |
| author_sort | Hela Ben Youssef |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundSeveral empathy assessment tests have been proposed worldwide but none of them took into account cultural variations that seem to affect empathic manifestations. The aim of this study was to create and validate an empathy assessment questionnaire for school-aged Tunisian children entitled “Tunisian Empathy Scale for Children” (TESC).MethodsAn evaluative cross-sectional study was conducted. The questionnaire was administered to parents of 197 neuro-typical children and 31 children with autism without associated intellectual deficits, aged between 7 and 12 years. Validation steps included: face validity, content validity, construct validity, and reliability study. A ROC curve analysis was used to investigate the diagnostic performance of the TESC.ResultsFace validity was verified with an expert panel. Content validity was examined, and 11 items were removed as irrelevant or not assessable by parents. Exploratory factor analysis extracted four domains that explained 43% of the total variance. All these domains were significantly correlated with the total score (p < 10−3) and are, respectively: empathic behaviors, affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and a combined affective and cognitive domain. The reliability study showed a satisfactory level of internal consistency of the TESC, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.615.The diagnostic performance of the TESC in relation to autism was evaluated by the ROC curve with a sensitivity and specificity of 84.3 and 62.1%, respectively, for a total score of 16.ConclusionA 15-item questionnaire assessing empathy in a multidimensional and culturally adapted way was obtained. The psychometric qualities of the TESC were satisfactory. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T10:24:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7b0b34bc572d4ba09d25101b36693c81 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-0640 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T10:24:25Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
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| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-7b0b34bc572d4ba09d25101b36693c812022-12-22T01:52:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402022-07-011310.3389/fpsyt.2022.903966903966Validation of the Tunisian Empathy Scale for Children (TESC) in General Population and Children With Autism Spectrum DisorderHela Ben Youssef0Hela Ben Youssef1Soumeyya Halayem2Soumeyya Halayem3Malek Ghazzai4Selima Jelili5Selima Jelili6Hager Ben Mansour7Hager Ben Mansour8Olfa Rajhi9Amal Taamallah10Amal Taamallah11Selima Ennaifer12Selima Ennaifer13Malek Hajri14Malek Hajri15Zeineb Salma Abbes16Zeineb Salma Abbes17Radhouane Fakhfakh18Ahmed Nabli19Asma Bouden20Asma Bouden21Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, TunisiaFaculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, TunisiaDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, TunisiaFaculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, TunisiaService Universitaire de Psychiatrie de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescent du Centre Hospitalier de Versailles, Paris, FranceDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, TunisiaFaculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, TunisiaDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, TunisiaFaculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, TunisiaService Universitaire de Psychiatrie de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescent du Centre Hospitalier de Versailles, Paris, FranceDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, TunisiaFaculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, TunisiaDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, TunisiaFaculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, TunisiaDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, TunisiaFaculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, TunisiaDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, TunisiaFaculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, TunisiaDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Abderrahmen Mami Hospital, Ariana, TunisiaReMotion Research and Development, Lille, FranceDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, TunisiaFaculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, TunisiaBackgroundSeveral empathy assessment tests have been proposed worldwide but none of them took into account cultural variations that seem to affect empathic manifestations. The aim of this study was to create and validate an empathy assessment questionnaire for school-aged Tunisian children entitled “Tunisian Empathy Scale for Children” (TESC).MethodsAn evaluative cross-sectional study was conducted. The questionnaire was administered to parents of 197 neuro-typical children and 31 children with autism without associated intellectual deficits, aged between 7 and 12 years. Validation steps included: face validity, content validity, construct validity, and reliability study. A ROC curve analysis was used to investigate the diagnostic performance of the TESC.ResultsFace validity was verified with an expert panel. Content validity was examined, and 11 items were removed as irrelevant or not assessable by parents. Exploratory factor analysis extracted four domains that explained 43% of the total variance. All these domains were significantly correlated with the total score (p < 10−3) and are, respectively: empathic behaviors, affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and a combined affective and cognitive domain. The reliability study showed a satisfactory level of internal consistency of the TESC, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.615.The diagnostic performance of the TESC in relation to autism was evaluated by the ROC curve with a sensitivity and specificity of 84.3 and 62.1%, respectively, for a total score of 16.ConclusionA 15-item questionnaire assessing empathy in a multidimensional and culturally adapted way was obtained. The psychometric qualities of the TESC were satisfactory.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.903966/fullempathychildvalidation studyautism (ASD)questionnaire |
| spellingShingle | Hela Ben Youssef Hela Ben Youssef Soumeyya Halayem Soumeyya Halayem Malek Ghazzai Selima Jelili Selima Jelili Hager Ben Mansour Hager Ben Mansour Olfa Rajhi Amal Taamallah Amal Taamallah Selima Ennaifer Selima Ennaifer Malek Hajri Malek Hajri Zeineb Salma Abbes Zeineb Salma Abbes Radhouane Fakhfakh Ahmed Nabli Asma Bouden Asma Bouden Validation of the Tunisian Empathy Scale for Children (TESC) in General Population and Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Frontiers in Psychiatry empathy child validation study autism (ASD) questionnaire |
| title | Validation of the Tunisian Empathy Scale for Children (TESC) in General Population and Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_full | Validation of the Tunisian Empathy Scale for Children (TESC) in General Population and Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_fullStr | Validation of the Tunisian Empathy Scale for Children (TESC) in General Population and Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_full_unstemmed | Validation of the Tunisian Empathy Scale for Children (TESC) in General Population and Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_short | Validation of the Tunisian Empathy Scale for Children (TESC) in General Population and Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_sort | validation of the tunisian empathy scale for children tesc in general population and children with autism spectrum disorder |
| topic | empathy child validation study autism (ASD) questionnaire |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.903966/full |
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