- Adults who reported experiencing a traumatic event in childhood had elevated empathy levels compared to adults who did not experience a traumatic event.

- In the trauma groups, the severity the childhood trauma was positively linked to empathy levels.

Syracuse University

- Findings in Study 1

- Findings in Study 2

- Common findings

Summary of Findings

Greenberg, D. M., Baron-Cohen, S., Rosenberg, N., Fonagy, P., &amp; Rentfrow, P. J. (2018). Elevated empathy in adults following childhood trauma. PLOS ONE, 13(10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203886 

Reference

- There was no significant difference between groups (trauma vs. no trauma) for Cognitive Empathy.

- Cognitive component of the IRI (i.e. Perspective Taking) which was found to be significantly different between the groups.

- There was no effect of trauma on the Social Skills component of the EQ.

Findings in Study 1

- There was no significant difference found for Personal Distress between the groups.

- Empathy may be an ‘end-product’ of posttraumatic growth.

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