Investigation of Empathy with Positive Situations in Migrant Adolescents with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

The reduction in the scores of empathic patients with posttraumatic stress disorder in self-assessment questionnaires that evaluate their empathy regardless of their type of emotion, and their normal response to positive emotions and situations necessitates an examination of empathy with positive situations in these individuals. The purpose of this study was to investigate empathy with positive situations in migrant adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder. a total number of 45 adolescents were selected by the convenience sampling method and divided into 3 groups (15 in each group, including: adolescents with PTSD, adolescents without PTSD, and control group). Participants were evaluated by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Axis-I, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the Children’s Depression ]nventory (CDI), and a multi-dimensional empathy task. Data were analyzed by ANOVA, MANOVA, as well as post hoc tests. there was no significant difference between groups in terms of empathy and positive pictures. There was a significant difference between anxiety and depression scores in the PTSD group than other groups. Also, compared to the control group, the differences of anxiety scores in adolescents without PTSD were significant. According to the results, it can be concluded that the previous reports about deficit in empathy of individuals with PTSD does not include all situations, and this group of individuals do not show any deficit in empathy when they face individuals with positive emotions, which can be considered in the treatment of these persons.