Dataset Information

Psychometric properties of the questionnaire of cognitive and affective empathy in a Portuguese sample.

ABSTRACT: Empathy is an important concept in psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Despite the controversy around its definition, most researchers would agree that empathy is a multidimensional phenomenon which involves a vicarious experience of another person's affective state and an understanding of another person's affective experience. Self-report measures of empathy constitute an important tool for both research and clinical practice. The main goal of this study was to adapt and study the psychometric properties of the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE), a worldwide used measure of empathy, in a Portuguese community sample (N = 562). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the factor structure of the original QCAE. Results show that the Portuguese version of the QCAE has sound psychometric properties, with good structural validity and internal consistency for both scales (i.e., affective and cognitive) and respective subscales of the instrument (i.e., Emotion Contagion, Proximal Responsivity, Peripheral Responsivity, Perspective Taking and Online Simulation). We tested both a five correlated factor structure (Model 1) and a second-order model that postulates the affective and cognitive dimensions (Model 2). Our results show that while both models present acceptable goodness of fit indices, Model 1 performs slightly better. In conclusion, the Portuguese version of the QCAE may prove a useful tool for future cross-cultural assessments of empathy in both research and clinical practice.

SUBMITTER: Queiros A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5983521 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Psychometric properties of the questionnaire of cognitive and affective empathy in a Portuguese sample.

Queirós Andreia A Fernandes Eugénia E Reniers Renate R Sampaio Adriana A Coutinho Joana J Seara-Cardoso Ana A

PloS one 20180601 6

Empathy is an important concept in psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Despite the controversy around its definition, most researchers would agree that empathy is a multidimensional phenomenon which involves a vicarious experience of another person's affective state and an understanding of another person's affective experience. Self-report measures of empathy constitute an important tool for both research and clinical practice. The main goal of this study was to adapt and study the psychometr ...[more]

PMID: 29856825

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Project description:BACKGROUND:To investigate the psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) questionnaire in a group of patients with different eye diseases. METHODS:Cross-sectional study. All subjects completed the Portuguese version of the NEI VFQ-25 questionnaire. Another questionnaire containing a survey about clinical and demographics data was also applied. Rasch analysis was used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the NEI VFQ-25. RESULTS:The study included 104 patients with cataract, 65 with glaucoma and 83 with age macular degeneration. Mean age was 70.7 ± 9.9 years, with 143 female (56.7%) and 109 male patients (43.2%). Mean visual acuity was 0.47 and 1.17 logMAR in the better and worse eye, respectively. According to Rasch analysis, seven items were found to misfit. Those items belonged to the following subscales: general health, social function, mental health, ocular pain and role limitations. The principal component analysis of the residuals showed that 55.5% of the variance was explained by the principal component. Eight items loaded positively onto the first contrast with a correlation higher than 0.4. These items belonged to the following subscales: near vision, distance vision, mental health and dependency. After excluding those items, we were able to isolate items from the NEI VFQ-25, related only to a visual functioning component. Finally, the principal component analysis from residuals of this revised version of the NEI VFQ-25 (items related to visual function) showed that the principal component explained 61.2% of the variance, showing no evidence of multidimensionality. CONCLUSIONS:The Portuguese version of the NEI VFQ-25 is not a unidimensional instrument. We were able to find items that belong to a different trait, possible related to a socio-emotional component. Thus, in order to obtain psychometrically valid constructs, both the visual functioning and socio-emotional components should be analyzed separately.

Project description:BackgroundThe Valuing Questionnaire (VQ) is considered as one of the most psychometrically robust instruments to measure valued living according to the acceptance and commitment therapy model. It consists of 10 items that are responded to on a 7-point Likert-type scale and has two factors: Progression and Obstruction. The Spanish version of the VQ showed good psychometric properties in Colombian samples. However, there is no evidence of the psychometric properties of the VQ in Spaniard samples. This study aims to analyze the validity of the VQ in a large Spaniard sample and analyze the measurement invariance with a similar Colombian sample.MethodThe VQ was administered to a Spaniard sample of 846 adult participants from general online population. Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega were computed to analyze the internal consistency of the VQ. The fit of the VQ's two-factor model was tested through a confirmatory factor analysis with a robust maximum likelihood (MLR) estimation method. Afterward, we analyzed the measurement invariance across countries and gender. Convergent construct validity was analyzed with a package of questionnaires that evaluated experiential avoidance (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, AAQ-II), emotional symptoms (Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21, DASS-21), life satisfaction (Satisfaction with Life Scale, SWLS), and cognitive fusion (Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire, CFQ).ResultsThe internal consistency across samples was adequate (alphas and omegas were .85 for VQ-Progress and .84 for VQ-Obstruction). The two-factor model obtained a good fit to the data (RMSEA = 0.073, 90% CI [0.063, 0.083], CFI = 0.98, NNFI = 0.97, and SRMR = 0.053). The VQ showed strict invariance across countries and gender and showed theoretically coherent correlations with emotional symptoms, life satisfaction, experiential avoidance, and cognitive fusion. In conclusion, the Spanish version of the VQ demonstrated good psychometric properties in a large Spaniard sample.

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Dataset Information

Psychometric properties of the questionnaire of cognitive and affective empathy in a Portuguese sample.

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Psychometric properties of the questionnaire of cognitive and affective empathy in a Portuguese sample.

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