[Empathy deficit in adolescents : how to characterize and evaluate it clinically ? A litterature review].

Introduction : empathy has been considered since a long time under the angle of human sciences. Today, certain neuro-scientific postulates complement this knowledge. Context : observation of adolescents presenting psychiatric disorders, accompagnied by conduct disorders and/or psychopathic traits, frequently describe empathy deficits ; nurses should evaluate the nature and the degree of empathy of these adolescents. Aims : this litterature review aims to expose the clinical characteristics of empathy deficit from its definition and to describe the clinical evaluation tools. Method : target population of this review is children and adolescents from twelve to eighteen years old. The review was carried out with PubMed, CINAHL and PsycINFO, from 2002 to 2012. Results : twenty-two articles were retained. Empathy is defined as a mechanism combining several components of neuronal activity. Empathy includes a cognitive component, an affective component which are based on a neurofunctional dysfunctional substrate when there is a deficit of empathy. Three evaluation scales are distinguished : the Basic empathy scale, the Interpersonal reactivity index and the Griffith empathy measure. Discussion : three evaluation tools present the validity and reliability criteria for clinical use. Conclusion : the development of evidence based practices should confirm the interest of these tools for nurses.