Hammer Lillian A, Karnick Aleksandr, Beals Kendall, Luther Lauren, Bonfils Kelsey A
Department of Psychology, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 39406, USA.
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Mar 18;14(3):245. doi: 10.3390/bs14030245.
Empathy is a multifaceted concept that is vital to effective social functioning; yet, it is impaired in high schizotypy groups. Furthermore, empathy has been found to be a mediator in the relationship between schizotypy and social functioning, highlighting the importance of empathy as a driver in social outcomes. Despite this, the four-factor structure of a widely-used measure of empathy-the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)-has been found to be psychometrically weak in high schizotypy samples. As such, this study aimed to assess differences in the item-level network of the IRI between high ( = 427) and low schizotypy groups ( = 470). The results reveal that there are significant differences in the structure of these networks, though they evidence similar strengths. Within the high schizotypy group, the network structure was consistent with the four-factor structure of the IRI subscales; items from each subscale clustered together and were distinct from those in the other subscales. By contrast, the low schizotypy group evidenced six clusters that did not mirror the IRI subscales. These results suggest that the item-level structure of the IRI is dependent upon the level of schizotypy of the sample, with the high schizotypy group's network functioning similarly to what would be expected from the original four-factor structure.
共情是一个多方面的概念，对有效的社会功能至关重要；然而，在高精神分裂症型特质群体中，共情能力受损。此外，共情被发现是精神分裂症型特质与社会功能之间关系的一个中介因素，凸显了共情作为社会结果驱动因素的重要性。尽管如此，一种广泛使用的共情测量工具——人际反应指数（IRI）的四因素结构，在高精神分裂症型特质样本中被发现其心理测量学特性较弱。因此，本研究旨在评估高精神分裂症型特质组（n = 427）和低精神分裂症型特质组（n = 470）之间IRI项目水平网络的差异。结果表明，这些网络的结构存在显著差异，尽管它们的强度相似。在高精神分裂症型特质组中，网络结构与IRI分量表的四因素结构一致；每个分量表的项目聚集在一起，与其他分量表的项目不同。相比之下，低精神分裂症型特质组有六个聚类，并不反映IRI分量表。这些结果表明，IRI的项目水平结构取决于样本的精神分裂症型特质水平，高精神分裂症型特质组的网络功能与原始四因素结构预期的相似。
