Alcohol dependence and its impact on the relationship between empathy and aggression in young adults in Australia

• In Event: The Basic Empathy Scale and its Application in Criminological Research

Abstract

Previous research has shown that low empathy is associated with both physical and relational aggression. Alcohol consumption has been demonstrated to be associated with physical aggression but its relationship to relational aggression is less well understood. Alcohol consumption is also related to impairment in cognitive and emotional functioning, potentially leading to low empathy. This research aimed to contribute to disentangling these relationships by examining whether empathy (measured by the Basic Empathy Scale, a validated measure of both cognitive empathy (i.e. understanding the emotions of others) and affective empathy (i.e. experiencing the emotions of others) to multiple forms of aggression) mediates the relationship between alcohol consumption (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) and multiple forms of aggression (including physical and relational using the Self-Report of Aggression and Social Behaviour (SRASBM) scale). The survey was administered to a sample of 765 second-year Australian university students (mean age 21.5, SD = 4.6) enrolled in a criminology theory course. Preliminary results indicate that those who have the greatest levels of dependent and harmful alcohol consumption have the lowest levels of both affective and cognitive empathy. This paper will present the results of a mediation analysis, examining the relationships between alcohol consumption, empathy, and aggression.

Authors

• Tara Renae McGee, Griffith University

• Darrick Jolliffe, University of Greenwich

• Li Eriksson, Griffith University

• David Farrington, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge