Ashley Raucci

University of Utah Assessing Empathy in Children

Kinesiology
Ashley.Raucci@Utah.edu

Dr. Hester Henderson University of Utah,

Dr. Maria Newton University of Utah,
Markell McCubbin, Children’s Synergistic Learning Collaborative

I. Introduction II. Methods III. Results

• Empathy is an important basic
human capacity that consists
of the following:
• The ability to respond
effectively to emotions in
others, aiming at reacting
adaptively to another’s
needs.
• Supporting and consoling
the emotional needs of
another person.
• Children’s Synergistic Learning
Collaborative (CSLC):
• Students are taught and
encouraged to see others
through an empathic
lens.
• Truly inclusive.
• Students range in age
from 3-12 years old.
• Wide variety of abilities:
• The core of CSLC’s curriculum
includes project-based
learning:
• Cooperatively share ideas
and solve problems in the
same environment.
• Teaching empathy core to
their pedagogy.
• Utilize explicit teaching,
guidance, and
opportunities for practice.
• There is no empirical evidence
to demonstrate whether their
approach to develop empathy
is successful. CSLC intends to
document and track empathy
of its students and observe
empathic development over
time.
• Research Question:
Items of the Empathy Questionnaire
Participants: Emotion Contagion • Teacher ratings were averaged for
• CSLC CSLC and the Other Inclusion • Students at CSLC are significantly
1. When another child cries, this child gets upset too.
teacher ratings of Middle School (see below). younger than the other students
4. This child also needs to be comforted when another child is in pain.
n=25 students. assessed, yet scores by teachers
7. When another child makes a bad fall, shortly after this child pretends to fall too.
• CSLC: Greater overall empathy were higher on average.
• Students ages 3-11. 10. When another child is upset, this child needs to be comforted too.
rating.
13. When another child gets frightened, this child freezes or starts to cry.
• The data shows that students are
•Other Inclusion • CSLC: Greater Attention to Others’
16. When other children argue, this child gets upset. more empathic at CSLC than other
School 19. When another child cries, this child looks away. Feelings & Prosocial Actions inclusive environments where
teacher ratings of n=15 Attention to Others Feelings
ratings. empathy is not a meaningful part
students. 3. When this child sees other children laughing, he/she starts laughing too. of the curriculum.
• Students ages 12- 6. When an adult gets angry with another child, this child watches attentively.
• CSLC and Other Inclusion Middle
school scored the same in emotion
15. 9. This child looks up when another child laughs.
contagion.
12. When adults laugh, this child tries to get near them.
Assessment 15. This child looks up when another child cries.
Instrument 18. When another child is angry, this child stops his/her own play to watch.
• Empathy 20. When other children argue, this child wants to see what’s going on.
Questionnaire Prosocial Actions
Question Category Averages Avg. EmQue Score
(EmQue) 2. When I make clear that I want some peace and quiet, this child tries not to bother me.
10 40
• Global empathy 5. When another child starts to cry, this child tries to comfort him/her. 9
8
35
• Attention to 8. When another child gets upset, this child tries to cheer him/her up.
7

Average Score
30
Are teacher ratings of student’s others’ feelings 11. When I make it clear that I want to do something by myself (ex: read), this child leaves me
Down syndrome, Autism 6 CSLC

Average Score
alone for a while. 25
empathy different in CSLC • Prosocial actions 5
Spectrum Disorder, 14. When two children are arguing, this child tries to stop them. 4 CSLC 20
speech and language compared to a comparison 17. When another child gets frightened, this child tries to help him/her. 3 Other Middle School Other
15
delays, attention deficit inclusion middle school? 2
Middle
1
Types/Levels of Empathy
10
disorders, etc. School
0
5
• Emotion Contagion Emotion Attention to Prosocial
Contagion Others' Actions 0
• Feeling the feelings another person feels Feelings Average
• Ex: a crying baby might trigger the same response in other babies
• Attention to Others’ Feelings
• Feeling distress that someone else is in danger or pain
• Prosocial Actions IV. Conclusions
• Developed capacity to intervene on behalf of others
• Helping, sharing, comforting

• Students at CSLC are more empathic than other inclusion environments.

Findings • Future Intentions:
Average of Total Emotion Attention to Prosocial • CSLC is hoping to continue to build on this assessment data for
Scores Contagion Other’s Feelings Actions their students.
Average • The findings will be used to advocate that their institution is not
just for special children, it’s for everyone.
CSLC 16.8 1.5 8.8 6.5 • Next Steps:
• Yearly assessment of student behaviors, watching for increases
Other Middle 14.9 1.6 7.4 6.0 in positive / prosocial behaviors.
School • Assess students in public schools who are not in an inclusion
environment and see how levels of empathy compare.