Psychiatry Investig.  2019 Sep;16(9):671-678. 10.30773/pi.2019.06.25.

A Preliminary Study for Translation and Validation of the Korean Version of The Cognitive, Affective, and Somatic Empathy Scale in Young Adults

• Park YE
• Yoon HK
• Kim SY
• Williamson J
• Wallraven
• Kang J

• KMID: 2459687
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2019.06.25

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The cognitive, Affective, and Somatic Empathy Scale (CASES) suggests novel three components structure of empathy. Although CASES developed to assess the trait empathy of both children and adult, the validation in adult sample is not yet conducted. This study developed Korean version of CASES (CASES-K) and examined the psychometric properties in young adult for first time.
METHODS
Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test whether the factor structure suggested in initial development study is valid in Korean young adult population. 350 young adults participated, and 44 of them also answered to other empathy scales for validation. The construct validity was ascertained through a series of correlational analysis with widely used trait empathy scales.
RESULTS
The result of confirmatory factor analysis supports the three-factor model of empathy consists of affective, cognitive and somatic facets. The construct validity was ascertained through a series of correlational analysis with widely used trait empathy scales. The result of correlational analysis supports the validity of CASES-K, and especially the separation of somatic empathy from affective empathy.
CONCLUSION
The current study provides the first evidence of the validity and utility of the CASES-K in young adult population. The result also supports the commonality of three factor structure of empathy in both East Asian and Caucasian, from the children to adults.

Keyword

Empathy; Cognitive empathy; Affective empathy; Somatic empathy

MeSH Terms

Adult
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Child
Empathy*
Humans
Psychometrics
Weights and Measures
Young Adult*