title: Alterations in empathic responding among women with posttraumatic stress disorder associated with childhood trauma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although studies increasingly point toward problems with social cognition among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), few studies have assessed empathic responding. The aim of the current study was to investigate empathic responding in women with PTSD related to childhood trauma, and the contribution of parental bonding to empathic abilities in this sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants with PTSD (n = 29) and sex- and age-matched healthy controls (n = 20) completed two self-report empathy measures, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ), and a self-report measure of attachment, the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women with PTSD, relative to controls, reported significantly lower levels of empathic concern (r = 0.29) and perspective taking (r = 0.30), yet significantly higher levels of personal distress (r = 0.45) on the IRI. Women with PTSD also reported elevated scores on the TEQ (η (2) = 0.13). Levels of paternal care on the PBI, rather than childhood trauma severity or PTSD symptom severity best predicted perspective taking scores on the IRI in the PTSD sample (R (2) = 0.20).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women with PTSD associated with childhood trauma reported alterations among different domains of empathic functioning that may be related to low levels of paternal care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ; Mood Disorders Program, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parlar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Frewen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ; Mood Disorders Program, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nazarov
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ; Mood Disorders Program, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oremus
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ; Department of Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Glenda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: MacQueen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lanius
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ; Mood Disorders Program, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ; Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit, Baycrest Centre Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Margaret C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: McKinnon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D004645:Empathy / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D057566:Self Report; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Adult survivors of child abuse; empathy; posttraumatic; stress disorders